Thank you Dr. Sarkisyan for an excellent case of CAPS on 11/20/15!

Teaching Points:

• CAPS: The most severe form of APS, an acute biologic process that leads to occlusion of vessels of multiple organs.
  • Clotting gone wild!
  • MUST NOT MISS Diagnosis: High mortality rate (30-50%)
• Diagnosis requires acute (<1 week) onsets of symptoms, 3 or more organ involvement, APL antibodies, and biopsy confirmation of small vessel occlusion
• Infections are most common precipitating factors
• Think about this dx in any patient p/w anemia and thrombocytopenia (MAHA) with evidence of end organ dysfunction (ie. Chest pain, SOB, AKI, HTN, Stroke, DVT/PE, etc)
• Treatment: Anticoagulation, High-dose glucocorticoids, Plasma exchange