Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is an occlusive thrombotic disease of lower extremities. A 34-year-old woman presented with 4-year history of recurrent necrotic and painful lesions with violaceous and purpuric border on both legs. Initial treatment with hydroxychloroquine, dapsone and prednisone were unsuccessful. Skin biopsy showed inflammatory infiltrate with epidermal necrosis. Prothrombin G20210A and factor V-Leiden heterozygosity, and MTHFR C677T homozygosity with hyperhomocysteinemia were confirmed. LV diagnosis was made; acetylsalicylic acid, folic acid, vitamin B12, and prednisone treatement resulted in complete healing. This is the first report on coexistence of prothrombin G20210A, factor V-Leiden, and homozygous MTHFR C677T with hyperhomocysteinemia in LV.

Clopidogrel is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs, as its combination with low-dose aspirin is the recommended oral anti-platelet therapy, to prevent ischaemic events following coronary syndromes or stent placement. Numerous recent studies have shown that polymorphisms in the gene encoding the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) 2C19 enzyme (CYP2C19) contribute to variability in response to clopidogrel; patients with certain common genetic variants of CYP2C19 (2, 3) have a reduced metabolism of clopidogrel and have a higher rate of cardiovascular events or stent thrombosis compared to patients with the CYP2C19 (1) allele. CYP2C19 2 is most common in Caucasians, Africans and Asians while CYP2C19 3 has been found mostly in Asians. Since the prevalence of these variants in the Lebanese population has not yet been reported, our aim was to determine the genotypes of CYP2C19 in our population. CYP2C19 (1/2/3) variants were assessed by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assays in a representative sample of 161 unrelated healthy Lebanese volunteers. The allele frequencies of CYP2C19 2 and 3 were 0.13 and 0.03. Carriers of the CYP2C19 2 or 3 represented 24.2% of the subjects. Our data show no significant difference in the frequency of CYP2C19 allelic variants when compared to Caucasian populations and demonstrate that the application of the recent FDA recommendations would also be beneficial in Lebanon, allowing physicians to identify patients at high risk for atherothrombotic events, and eventually advising them to consider other antiplatelet medications or alternative dosing strategies in poor metabolizers.

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