Published in:
01-03-2007 | Case Report
Chronicle of a death foretold: a case of catastrophic vascular Behcet’s disease
Authors:
David Planer, David Leibowitz, Yair Elitzur, Amit Korach, Nurith Hiller, Tova Chajek-Shaul
Published in:
Clinical Rheumatology
|
Issue 3/2007
Login to get access
Abstract
A 20-year-old man with Behcet's disease characterized by recurrent arterial aneurysms presented with a new aortic root aneurysm. This patient previously had aneurysms of the coronary arteries and vein, as well as ruptured renal artery aneurysm. Chronic maintenance immunosuppressive therapy was recommended due to the catastrophic nature of the disease, which the patient refused to take. The patient died shortly after admission. This case demonstrates the unique catastrophic natural history of vascular Behcet's disease with recurrent life-threatening arterial events, and this case stresses the therapeutic dilemma of maintenance immunosuppressive therapy in selected patients.