Mædica A Journal of Clinical Medicine, Volume1 No.3 2006 32 S TATE TE TE TE TE - OF OF OF OF OF - THE THE THE THE THE - AR AR AR AR ART Mædica - a Journal of Clinical Medicine ABSTRACT Hughes antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disorder, and moreover is an important cause of acquired thrombophilia. It is also known as Hughes’ syndrome, after Dr Graham RV Hughes, who first described the condition in the British Medical Journal in 1983. Owing to diagnostic complexity, classification criteria for the antiphospholipid syndrome have been frequently renewed. Currently, it was applied the new revised classification criteria for the Hughes’ syndrome. The actual classification advises against using the term “secondary” APS because cumulative data studies didn’t find differences in the clinical consequences of antiphospholipid antibodies among primary APS and “APS associated with other autoimmune disorders”. Cutaneous involvement in APS is diverse and heterogeneous, and may be the primary manifestation of the disease. Keywords: Hughes’ syndrome, antiphospholipid syndrome, antiphospholipid antibodies, cutaneous manifestations, autoimmune disorders Polymorphism of skin involvement in Hughes (antiphospholipid) syndrome Ecaterina BONTAS a , Akiko TANIKAWA b , Daniela BARTOS c , Elena PRIPOAIE d , Silviu GHIORGHE a , Maria DOROBANTU e a Registrar of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine & Cardiology Department, Floreasca Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania b Senior Lecturer of Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan c Senior Lecturer of Internal Medicine & Cardiology Department, Floreasca Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania d Specialist Registrar of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine & Cardiology Department, Floreasca Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania e Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Internal Medicine & Cardiology Department, Floreasca Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania I. INTRODUCTION A ntiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disorder with recurrent arterial and/or venous thrombosis, and pregnancy loss associated with positive results of anticardiolipin antibodies, anti beta 2 glyco- protein I antibodies or positive lupus antico- agulant tests. Currently, APS is foremost a thrombotic syndrome, with clinical consequences in almost