Correspondence- Ocular features associated with anticardiolipin antibodies: a descriptive study

EDITOR:

In their report “Ocular features associated with anticardiolipin antibodies: a descriptive study,” Miserocchi and colleagues describe a range of ocular findings among 13 patients who were seen over a period of approximately 13 years at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and who were noted to produce anticardiolipin antibodies (Am J Ophthalmol 131:451–456, 2001). This report is a potential landmark study because it comes from an eminent group and it expands the spectrum of disease associated with anticardiolipin antibodies. Based on their data, the authors “do not conclude that there is a causative role of anticardiolipin antibodies in some patients with uveitis.” However, they advise that “one might want to include anticardiolipin antibody screening in all patients presenting with uveitis of unclear cause in which retinal vasculitis is involved.”1 We disagree with these statements. To evaluate the conclusions of this report, it is important to recognize specifics about the anticardiolipin antibody and general principles about laboratory testing.