Antiphospholipid antibodies after myocardial infarction and their relation to mortality, reinfarction, and non-haemorrhagic stroke

Antiphospholipid antibodies have been suggested as markers for a high risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in young survivors of an acute myocardial infarction. However, there are few data to confirm or refute this hypothesis. In a cohort study, we have measured anticephalin (aCEPHA) and anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies in a group of patients surviving an acute infarct. Of 597 patients studied, 13·2% were IgG or IgM aCEPHA positive compared with 4·4% of a reference population (n=158; p=0·002). In a multivariate analysis, adjusted for major cardiovascular risk factors, neither aCEPHA (IgG or IgM) nor aCL (IgG or IgM) was an independent risk factor for mortality, reinfarction, or non-haemorrhagic stroke. Although an increased proportion of survivors of a myocardial infarction have antiphospholipid antibodies, the presence of such antibodies is not a risk factor for subsequent coronary or cerebrovascular thrombosis.