Aortic Valve Thrombosis in Antiphospholipid Syndrome Causing Coronary Artery Embolic Disease

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a disorder characterized by the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies which can include Lupus anticoagulant and Anticardiolipin antibody [1]. These antibodies bind to cardiolipin and have been shown in some cases to require β2- glycoprotein I in order to bind to cardiolipin [2]. Symptoms of this disorder include vascular thrombosis without inflammation in the vessel wall, premature birth, spontaneous abortion, and death in a morphologically normal fetus at or beyond the 10th week of gestation [1]. APS has a strong correlation to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with studies showing that 30% of patients with SLE will develop APS; however, APS can still be found in patients without SLE at a low frequency [3].