Impact of the 2023 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria in Women with Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome during Pregnancy

oleh: Víctor M. Martínez-Taboada, Ana Micieces Gómez, Sara del Barrio-Longarela, Ana Merino, Alejandra Comins-Boo, Marcos López-Hoyos, Leyre Riancho-Zarrabeitia, Rafael Gálvez, José L. Hernández

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-09-01

Deskripsi

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: ACR/EULAR has recently developed new classification criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The present study aims to analyze the impact of these new 2023 ACR/EULAR classification criteria in a cohort of pregnant women with primary APS. <b>Methods</b>: Retrospective cohort study of 93 consecutive pregnant women attending the Autoimmune Diseases Pregnancy Clinic, a multidisciplinary unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital, between 2005 and 2023. All of them fulfilled the Sydney classification criteria for APS. Women diagnosed with rheumatic autoimmune diseases other than APS were excluded. <b>Results</b>: Twenty-four out of ninety-three patients (25.8%) met the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria for APS. Patients who met the new classification criteria were very similar to those who did not, except for being younger (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and had a lower number of clinical pregnancies (<i>p</i> = 0.004). The obstetric domain was clearly underrepresented in women who fulfilled the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Patients meeting the new classification criteria were primarily characterized by preterm births before 34 weeks due to severe placentation disorders (<i>p</i> = 0.004). Women with early and late fetal loss were significantly underrepresented (<i>p</i> < 0.0001 and 0.03, respectively). Nearly half of these patients had thrombocytopenia (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Serologically, these patients showed a higher frequency of persistent lupus anticoagulant (<i>p</i> = 0.02) and a lower frequency of IgM isotype antiphospholipid antibodies (<i>p</i> = 0.05). <b>Conclusions</b>: Almost three-quarters of the patients included in the study did not meet the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria. Most patients who could not be classified according to these new classification criteria were those with early and/or late fetal deaths, as well as patients carrying only IgM aCL/AB2GPI antibodies. The high specificity of the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria, restricted to severe placentation disorders, may leave the majority of patients with obstetric APS out of the new classification criteria.