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TABLE 1. Sapporo Criteria for Diagnosing APLA Syndrome

Presence of 1 Clinical Event AND a Repeatedly^* Positive Lab Test

Clinical Events
Lab Tests

Blood clot (=thrombosis) • Lupus anticoagulant confirmed with clotting tests that depend on phospholipids OR

    Venous

        • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)=clot in leg or arm • Medium or high levels of anticardiolipin IgG or IgM antibodies

        • Pulmonary embolism (PE)=clot in lung

        • Other (in eye=retinal vein thrombosis; around brain=sinus vein thrombosis; in abdomen=mesenteric, portal, or hepatic vein thrombosis; etc)

    Arterial

        • Stroke

        • Heart attack

        • Leg or arm arterial clot (=ischemia or gangrene)

        • Other (in eye=retinal artery thrombosis; in abdomen=mesenteric artery thrombosis, etc)

Pregnancy loss, defined as one of the following:

    • Three or more losses before the 10th week of pregnancy

    • One or more losses at or after the 10th week of pregnancy

    • One or more premature deliveries at or before the 34th week of pregnancy because of eclampsia, preeclampsia, or placental insufficiency

*Tested at least 6 weeks apart.

${dagger}$ Other possible causes of pregnancy loss or premature delivery should be excluded, such as birth defects, chromosomal abnormalities, and abnormalities of the mother’s uterine anatomy or hormone levels.

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