Patients recruitment
This was a single-center, prospective cohort study conducted at Peking
Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) from May 2017 to January 2020. A
total of 312 consecutive patients were included in this study, of which
100 patients had been diagnosed with primary APS (PAPS group), 51 with
APS secondary to SLE (SAPS group), 71 with SLE (SLE group), and 90
health controls (HC group). Diagnosis of APS was defined by clinicians
according to the 2006 Sydney revised classification criteria. Sera
samples were collected and immediately profiled of aPL antibodies at the
Key Laboratory of Department of Rheumatology, Peking Union Medical
College Hospital (PUMCH). Besides aPL serology, clinical manifestations
were recorded for PAPS, SAPS, and SLE groups, including thrombosis
(arterial or venous), pregnancy morbidity, microangiography (deep venous
thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, etc.), and history of adverse pregnancy.
For HC group, only aPL serology information was present. The study was
approved by ethics committee at PUMCH and fulfilled the ethical
guidelines of the declaration of Helsinki. All subjects gave written
informed consent.