The association of antiphospholipid antibodies with severe early-onset pre-eclampsia

Objective. To confirm the association of antiphospholipid antibodies with early onset of severe pre-eclampsia before 30 weeks' gestation.Study design. Thirty-four patients with diastolic blood pressure levels ≥ 110 mmHg and at least 2+ proteinuria before the 30th week of pregnancy were randomly chosen for inclusion in the study. Blood samples were taken for assessment of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACAs), lupus anticoagulant, syphilitic serology and antinuclear antibodies. Fifteen normal antenatal patients matched for age, parity and gestational age acted as control subjects.Results. Four of the 34 women (11,7%) in the study group had elevated levels of both ACAs and lupus anticoagulant, compared with none in the control group. This was not found to be statistically different.Conclusion. Given the low incidence of positive ACAs in early-onset severe pre-eclampsia it is unlikely that they are implicated in its pathogenesis. It is possible that they represent a small subset of patients with alternative or combined pathology

An adolescent with both Wegener's Granulomatosis and chronic blastomycosis

We report a case of Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG) associated with blastomycosis. This appears to be the first case report of WG co-existing with a tissue proven blastomycosis infection. The temporal correlation of the two conditions suggests that blastomycosis infection (and therefore possibly other fungal infections), may trigger the systemic granulomatous vasculitis in a predisposed individual; a provocative supposition warranting further study

HIV and serum protein electrophoresis patterns in Kwazulu Natal: A retrospective study

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