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In Reply: Mr Musallam and colleagues suggest that the association between microalbuminuria and VTE that we reported could have been confounded since adjustment for the presence of APS or high titers of aPLs was not performed. Antiphospholipid antibodies include lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies, among others. Lupus anticoagulants strongly correlate with VTE, whereas the association between anticardiolipin antibodies and VTE is disputed.¹

Musallam et al mention that 20% of VTE cases are associated with high levels of aPLs, citing a review article that in turn refers to a study that investigated the association between anticardiolipin antibodies and VTE in a total of only 90 VTE cases.² These results are in contrast with a large systematic review¹ and 2 more recent and larger population-based prospective studies,^3-4 in which no association was found between anticardiolipin antibodies and VTE. Therefore, it seems that either the 20% cited must have been part of a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Bakhtawar K. Mahmoodi, BSc
b.k.mahmoodi@int.umcg.nl
Department of Hematology

Ron T. Gansevoort, MD, PhD
Department of Nephrology

Hanneke C. Kluin-Nelemans, MD, PhD
Department of Hematology
University Medical Center Groningen
Groningen, the Netherlands

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