Catastrophic Anti-phospholipid Syndrome Presenting with Symmetrical Peripheral Gangrene

Introduction: Anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) is an acquired auto-immune thrombophilia and is very rare in children presenting with skin manifestations.

Case Report: A case of 12 years old female who presented to the Emergency with discoloration of arms and legs and later developed gangrene which then auto-amputated. Anti-cardiolipin antibodies were found to be positive and skin biopsy findings were consistent with APS. She was diagnosed with catastrophic anti-phospholipid syndrome. Anti- ds antibodies were found to be negative.

Conclusion: Criteria for diagnosing APS in children should be developed as the adult APS diagnostic criteria doesn’t seem to apply on peadiatric patients. Prior studies too apply emphasis on this fact.