Children with rare autoimmune disease have these symptoms before blood clots form

Each year, approximately two in every 100,000 American adults are diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)

To find common features of APS in children, researchers at the University of Michigan Health and Michigan Medicine reviewed hundreds of potential cases over the past 20 years, of which only 21 children received a definitive diagnosis

They found that two-thirds of the children developed other symptoms not formally associated with antiphospholipid syndrome in adults, including low platelet counts, hemolytic anemia, and reticulomuscular anemia (a rash that indicates abnormal blood flow to the skin)

"Aside from blood clots, this rare disease does not have a single well-defined signature in children; instead, we found a range of symptoms in these patients," said lead author Jacqueline Jacqueline, a rheumatologist at the University of Michigan Health School.

Nearly half of the children had recurrent blood clots, many of whom were not taking enough anticoagulants

"We found that over time, some children with APS also experience significant physical damage from the disease, and it will be important to work to prevent this damage from occurring," Madison said

Almost half of the patients were first diagnosed with lupus (another autoimmune disease in which the body attacks its own immune system) before being diagnosed with APS

"These findings underscore the importance of developing pediatric-specific criteria for APS diagnosis," said Madison, who is also an assistant professor of rheumatology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine

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