The Lupus Attack: A Case Report and Literature Review of Myocardial Infarction and Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Acute myocardial infarction in a young patient is a nebulous entity, but in the absence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, particular attention must be paid to thrombotic disorders and hypercoagulable states. A 28-year-old male presented with worsening substemal chest pain for 36 hours. He was recently diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with active class lupus nephritis. With an initial electrocardiogram revealing ischemic changes, and an elevated troponin I, a concern was raised for myocardial infarction. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a severely reduced ejection fraction of 25%, and a subsequent emergent left heart catheterization revealed a complete, massive thrombotic occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending artery, requiring aspiration thrombectomy. After extensive workup for hypercoagulable states, he was found to have elevated anticardiolipin IgG and IgM antibodies on two occasions, twelve weeks apart. The patient was managed with triple anticoagulation with aspirin, clopidogrel, and warfarin for one month, followed by dual anticoagulation with clopidogrel and warfarin with a targetted international normalized ratio (INK) of 2.0 - 3.0. The management of acute coronary syndrome caused by antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is highly individualized and driven by clinician gestalt owing to the lack of a standardized consensus. While systemic thrombolysis, primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass grafting all have their utility, only a very small handful of case reports exist on the benefits of each. This particular case serves to showcase an instance where a patient was successfully managed with PCI with dual antiplatelet therapy. Further prospective randomized controlled trials are necessary to determine the optimal management of this rarely encountered patient population.