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F O R P H Y S I C I A N S – resources
Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
Autoimmunity
The presence of two antiphospholipid antibodies, anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) or lupus anticoagulant (LAC), is well established to increase the risk of RPL. The role of autoantibodies to other phospholipid antigens is much less clear. ACA and LAC cause placental insufficiency due to placental thrombosis and decidual vasculopathy. About 17% of women with RPL have ACA as compared to 4% of controls. ACA's are detected by an ELISA assay, while LAC is identified by aPTT, or a Russell viper venom time. No other autoantibodies have been consistently shown to be associated with RPL. Although the presence of thyroid autoantibodies was suggested to be more common in women with RPL, larger studies failed to confirm this finding.
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