Anti-Phospholipid Antibodies (APA)
Prenatal Screening Laboratory
Cardiolipin (aCL) - Phosphatidylserine (aPL) IgA, IgG, IgM antibodies by ELISA
Specimen Required:
Serum: 2 mL
Room temperature or 4°C
Days Test Set Up:
Run once per week
Analytic Time:
48 hours
Reference Values:
> 98 percentile = Elevated
Reported out in standardized units as
IgG Phospholipid Level (GPL),
IgM Phospholipid Level (MPL),
IgA Phospholipid Level (APL).
CPT Code(s):
86147 x 3 units, 86148 x 3 units
Relevance:
The presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or lupus-like disease, arterial or venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, recurrent pregnancy loss, postnatal maternal complications, migraine headaches, cerebrovascular accident, transient ischemic attack, or stroke.
Notes:
Includes three specific assays for anticardiolipin (aCL) and three antiphosphatidylserine (aPL) antibodies.
Some laboratories have reported that 10-25% of APA positive patients were positive for aPL but negative for aCL. The FBR performs both the aCL and aPL assays as part of the Anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome panel (APS). Testing for both phospholipid antibodies is more clinically relevant than testing for either alone; however, both aCL and aPL may be ordered as individual tests.
Reference(s)