Thrombotic antiphospholipid syndrome in a child with human immunodeficiency virus: a rare case report

Abstract

Background Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a non-inflammatory autoimmune disorder induced by antiphospholipid antibodies, which occurs exceedingly rarely in pediatric population and even more rarely reported in HIV positive children. Case summary A case of 11 years old boy had a sudden onset of swelling in his left lower leg along with pain which were worsening gradually. Initially, topical ointment was applied for 1 month which were ineffective in reducing pain and swelling. Instead, the symptoms were aggravated and suddenly spread to the proximal thigh, accompanied by dyskinesia of left lower leg. Both color doppler ultrasonography and vascular CT scan of left lower leg revealed deep venous thrombosis. His serum anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPLs) were tested positive. He was a known case of HIV virological failure with substantial HIV viral load (VL) despite receiving regular antiretroviral therapy (ART). His symptoms improved after giving aggressive antithrombotic and high dose corticosteroid treatments. Conclusion When pediatric patients develop thrombotic disease, APS also needs to be ruled out. The autoantibodies levels should be routinely tested to look for recurrent thrombosis in children with HIV/AIDS.

Hepatitis-A Infection-Induced Secondary Antiphospholipid Syndrome With Neuro-ophthalmological Manifestations

“…Moreover, a new case report documents similar findings where a viral infection precipitated APS in a young child who was successfully treated with anticoagulation therapy. This case is similar to the case presented herein except that the viral entity precipitating APS syndrome is HIV [8].…”