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Silent myocardial infarction in Wegener's granulomatosis
1Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
British Journal of Rheumatology
|February 1, 1996
Insights
Wegener's granulomatosis rarely causes significant heart problems, but this case shows a young man experienced a massive silent heart attack. This led to severe heart failure and death despite treatment for his condition.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Rheumatology
- Immunology
Background:
- Wegener's granulomatosis, now known as granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), is a rare autoimmune disease.
- Cardiac abnormalities are common at autopsy in GPA but clinically significant heart involvement is infrequent.
Abstract:
Histological cardiac abnormalities in Wegener's granulomatosis can frequently be demonstrated at post-mortem examination, but clinically significant cardiac involvement is rare. We describe a massive silent myocardial infarction leading to intractable heart failure and death in a young man with Wegener's granulomatosis, occurring at a time when other features of the disease were responding to aggressive immunosuppression.