IMR Press / RCM / Volume 4 / Issue 3 / pii/1561439340056-1844915968

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 19 Issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with MedReviews, LLC.

Open Access Case Review
Expanding the Differential Diagnosis of Hemoptysis: Mycotic Aortic Aneurysms
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1 Section of Cardiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2003, 4(3), 180–183;
Published: 30 September 2003
Abstract
The differential diagnosis of hemoptysis includes a wide spectrum of infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases as well as chest trauma. The clinical presentation of a mycotic aortic aneurysm is often nonspecific, but mortality is high, especially after aneurysmal rupture. A high index of suspicion is warranted in any patient presenting with hemoptysis and a recent past history of subacute bacterial endocarditis, intravascular interventions, known aortic aneurysm, and/or immunocompromised state. A case report is presented of a patient with an ascending aortic mycotic aneurysm eroding into the adjacent lung, leading to chest pain, dyspnea, and hemoptysis. This case report provides an important lesson of the need to expand the differential diagnosis of hemoptysis beyond the common bronchopulmonary diseases.
Keywords
Hemoptysis
Mycotic aortic aneurysm
Bacterial organisms
Aneurysmal rupture
Aortobronchial fistulas
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