A Case of Cardiac Behcet's Disease Mimicking Culture-Negative Infective Endocarditis / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Behcet's disease is an inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology with multi-organ involvement. Although it rarely involves the heart, once the heart is involved the results can be devastating. However, since cardiac involvement has various manifestations, diagnosis is challenging. The clinical features and echocardiographic findings of cardiac Behcet's may mimic culture-negative infective endocarditis. A correct diagnosis is usually made postoperatively. Here, we report the case of a 55-year-old male who was initially diagnosed with infective endocarditis that caused metastatic vertebral osteomyelitis. He underwent immediate cardiac surgery and received empirical antibiotics, but all culture findings were negative; however, he had a sustained fever and elevated inflammatory marker levels. After reviewing the results of pathologic and imaging studies, a final diagnosis of cardiac Behcet's disease was made. He was successfully treated with a high dose of corticosteroids. This report demonstrates a rare case of cardiac Behcet's disease mimicking culture-negative infective endocarditis.