As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is spreading rapidly worldwide, it has emerged as a leading cause of mortality resulting in more than one million deaths over the past ten months The pathophysiology of COVID-19 still remains unclear, posing a great challenge to the medical management of patients Recent studies have reported unusually high prevalence of thromboembolic events in COVID-19 patients, although the mechanism remains elusive Several studies have reported the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in COVID-19 patients We have noticed similarities between COVID-19 and the antiphospholipid syndrome, which is an autoimmune prothrombotic disease that is often associated with an infective aetiology Molecular mimicry and endothelial dysfunction could plausibly explain the mechanism of thrombogenesis in acquired antiphospholipid syndrome Here in this review, we discuss the clinicopathological similarities between COVID-19 and the antiphospholipid syndrome, and a potential role of therapeutic targets based on the antiphospholipid model for COVID-19 disease
Antiphospholipid syndrome and COVID-19 thrombosis: connecting the dots