Dermatological manifestations in the antiphospholipid syndrome

Antiphospholipid syndrome is regarded as a systemic disease. A total of 41% of the patients are presented with one form of the diverse skin findings at diagnosis. Due to the high prevalence of skin affliction it was recently suggested to include this syndrome in the diagnostic criteria of APS. The importance of these findings also entails the fact that in 25% of the patients the skin manifestations precede thromboembolic phenomena. The findings entail livedo reticularis, anetoderma, skin necrosis and others. This article discusses their prevalence and their relationships to other clinical manifestations in APS and how to approach them therapeutically.