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Eur J Clin Invest 2010; 40 (5): 451–464

Background  Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune vascular disease characterized by recurrent thrombotic episodes and/or obstetric complications. Management of this disease has been restricted mainly to anticoagulation; however, in recent years, significant advancement has been made in elucidating the pathophysiology of the disease including antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)‐induced activation of the platelets, endothelial cells, monocytes, complement and coagulation cascade. Stemming from these advances, potential targeted therapeutic approaches have been proposed.

Materials and methods  We utilized a computer‐assisted search of the literature (MEDLINE, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA) up until September 2009 using the keywords: antiphospholipid syndrome, antiphospholipid antibodies, anticardiolipin …