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Left ventricular intracardiac thrombus in a patient with Behçet disease successfully treated with immunosuppressive agents without anticoagulation: a case report and review of the literature

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Abstract

Behçet disease (BD) is a chronic multisystem disorder with vasculitis underlying its systemic manifestations. Cardiac involvement and particularly left ventricular intracardiac thrombus are rarely diagnosed in the course of BD and are often associated with poor prognosis. The causes of intracardiac thrombi are unknown. It is plausible that specific proinflammatory pathways resulting in the endothelial cell injury and hypercoagulation contribute to the formation of thrombotic masses in the heart. Known thrombophilic factors such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene mutations, factor V Leiden mutation, proteins S and C, antithrombin III, activated protein C resistance, and antiphospholipid antibodies may contribute to the formation of intracardiac thrombi in BD. We report a case of a 24-year-old male patient with BD presented with left ventricular thrombus. Transthoracic echocardiography allowed to describe and monitor such a rare cardiac manifestation of the disease. A combination of high-dose corticosteroid and azathioprine successfully dissolved intracardiac thrombus within ten days without anticoagulation.

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Acknowledgments

The patient’s consent was obtained to publicize the case. This study was supported by Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology (Moscow).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kashirskoe shosse 34A, 115522, Moscow, Russia

    Tatiana Lisitsyna, Zemfira Alekberova, Pavel Ovcharov, Alexander Volkov, Julia Korsakova & Evgeni Nasonov

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  1. Tatiana Lisitsyna
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  2. Zemfira Alekberova
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Correspondence to Tatiana Lisitsyna.

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Lisitsyna, T., Alekberova, Z., Ovcharov, P. et al. Left ventricular intracardiac thrombus in a patient with Behçet disease successfully treated with immunosuppressive agents without anticoagulation: a case report and review of the literature. Rheumatol Int 35, 1931–1935 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3306-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3306-1

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