Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with systemic lupus erythematosus in a child presenting with chorea: a case report.
A 16-year-old girl, diagnosed 1 year previously as having Sydenham chorea, was found to have systemic lupus erythematosus according to the American Rheumatism Association criteria. She now presented with pulmonary emboli and renal involvement and responded to immunosuppressive and anticoagulant therapy. The high levels of anticardiolipin antibodies returned to normal along with the clinical symptoms. We suggest that anticardiolipin antibodies are relevant to the development of chorea and thrombo-embolic complications and that these auto-antibodies should be sought for in similar cases.