Open AccessAll That Glitters is not Gold! A Case of Concomitant Acute Pericarditis and Subsegmental Pulmonary Embolism
Author(s) -
Dimitrios Patoulias,
Savvas Papachristou,
Dimitrios Vitos,
Xanthi Apostolidou,
Vivian Georgopoulou,
Andreanna Kozanidou,
Dafni Stamou,
Nikolaos Samarentsis,
Andriana Chioni,
Spyridon Bakatselos
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
mediterranean journal of rheumatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2529-198X
DOI - 10.31138/mjr.32.1.88
Subject(s) - medicine , pulmonary embolism , concomitant , pericarditis , asymptomatic , acute pericarditis , gold standard (test) , emergency department , chest pain , rheumatism , surgery , psychiatry
Concomitance of acute pericarditis and pulmonary embolism is extremely rare, with only a few case reports published so far. Herein we present a case of a 50-year-old man that presented to the Emergency Department, complaining of fever up to 38.5°C, pleuritic chest pain, nausea, arthralgias, and general symptoms during the previous two weeks. Thorough diagnostic work-up revealed the diagnosis of concomitant acute pericarditis and pulmonary embolism, which raised high index of clinical suspicion for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Indeed, the patient did not marginally meet the diagnostic criteria for SLE (total score=8), according to the updated 2019 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria. Since then, the patient remains asymptomatic, while he is under close monitoring for potential manifestation of other SLE clinical features. Our case highlights the need for long-term follow-up in such patients, especially when the first episode is attributed as idiopathic.