Anticardiolipin antibodies in patients with liver disease.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to test the hypothesis that anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) may cause an antiphospholipid syndrome and thrombotic events in patients with liver disease. METHODS: aCL were measured in 116 healthy controls and 372 patients with liver disease of different stage and etiology: 136 cases secondary to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, 139 due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 69 with alcoholic liver damage, and 28 cryptogenic in origin. Prior thrombotic events were recorded. The results were related to age, gender, stage, severity, and etiology of the liver disease, as well as to the occurrence of organ- and nonorgan-specific autoantibodies. RESULTS: aCL were positive …