PAPER

Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) have been reported to occur in a wide variety of autoimmune and non-autoimmune disorders in adults. Our objective was to investigate the prevalence and isotype distribution of aCL and its relationship with the features of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in childhood rheumatic disorders. Between November 1995 and May 1996, all patients who visited our paediatric rheumatology clinic whose guardians signed a consent form participated in the study. The study population included 106 patients (36 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 28 juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), 11 fibromyalgia, 7 sarcoidosis, 5 dermatomyositis, 3 rheumatic fever (RF), 3 vasculitis, 2 scleroderma, and 11 miscellaneous). aCL measurements were performed by enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). All patients were carefully evaluated for symptoms and signs o