APLA (Anti Phospholipid Antibody) IgG in Dehradun

What is a APLA (Anti Phospholipid Antibody) IgG?

This measures the IgG class of anticardiolipin antibodies, and of the two antibody classes it is the one that carries greater clinical weight. IgG anticardiolipin correlates better with the events that define antiphospholipid syndrome, namely thrombosis and pregnancy loss, and titre matters: a medium or high titre is considerably more significant than a borderline positive, which is why laboratories report a numerical value rather than simply positive or negative. Antiphospholipid syndrome is worth diagnosing because it is one of the few genuinely treatable causes of recurrent miscarriage and of unexplained clotting in young people, and because untreated it carries a substantial risk of recurrence. The diagnostic rules are deliberately strict and exist to prevent overdiagnosis. Antibodies must be persistently present on two occasions at least twelve weeks apart, because transient positives after infection are common, and there must be a clinical event: a confirmed thrombosis, or a defined pattern of pregnancy loss. Laboratory positivity in a well person is not the syndrome and generally does not require treatment.

Why take this test?

IgG anticardiolipin is measured within the antiphospholipid panel alongside IgM, lupus anticoagulant and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I. It is indicated for a blood clot without an obvious explanation, particularly in someone young or at an unusual site, and for arterial events such as stroke without conventional risk factors. It is a core part of the recurrent miscarriage work-up: three or more losses before ten weeks, a loss after ten weeks with a normally formed fetus, or premature birth caused by severe pre-eclampsia or placental insufficiency. It is checked in lupus and where a routine clotting test is unexpectedly prolonged. Because patients positive for all three tests carry the highest risk of recurrence and are managed most intensively, the panel is ordered as a whole. Any positive requires the twelve-week repeat, and interpretation belongs with a rheumatologist or haematologist rather than being read from a report.

• Unexplained blood clot, especially in a young person
• Stroke or arterial event without conventional risk factors
• Three or more miscarriages before ten weeks
• A pregnancy loss after ten weeks with a normally formed fetus
• Severe pre-eclampsia or placental insufficiency causing premature birth
• Lupus, or an unexpectedly prolonged clotting test

FAQs: APLA (Anti Phospholipid Antibody) IgG in Dehradun