Primary antiphospholipid syndrome associated with postoperative primary adrenal failure.

Abstract

A 51-year-old Caucasian male without previous history of thromboembolic disease developed Coomb's positive haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, transient paranoid psychosis and bilateral adrenal haemorrhage with primary adrenal failure after surgery for inguinal hernia. The activated partial thromboplastin time was spontaneously prolonged, and lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies were detected. In the absence of criteria for classification of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the entity was classified as a primary antiphospholipid syndrome. Despite the persistence of the serological abnormalities, the patient remains well after substitution with cortisone. Primary adrenal failure due to adrenal haemorrhage can be associated with the primary antiphospholipid syndrome.