Addison’s Disease in the Course of Recurrent Microangiopathic Antiphospholipid Syndrome—A Clinical Presentation and Review of the Literature

Abstract

The article presents a male patient with adrenocortical insufficiency in the course of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). It also describes recurrent exacerbations of his clinical status, characteristic of microangiopathic antiphospholipid syndrome (MAPS) which had been misdiagnosed as a disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) syndrome due to sepsis with multi-organ failure, including heart, kidneys, and liver. Issues related to pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, differential diagnosis, and treatment of APS in the context of presently distinguished subtypes of this syndrome have been addressed. The role of vascular endothelial cell activation and the influence of coagulation patterns on the development of APS continuum clinical symptoms have also been mentioned. In addition, this paper highlights that the diagnosis of APS should be considered in patients with adrenal insufficiency and abdominal pain, even without any prior history of thromboembolic diseases, as well as in the course of DIC, especially without predisposing factors.

Keywords

• adrenal insufficiency
• microangiopathic antiphospholipid syndrome
• clinical presentation