Fatal hemoptysis from Behcet's disease in a child

Abstract

Objective: To present a case of pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs) in a child with Behcet's disease (BD). Nature of the study: Case report and review of the literature. Materials and methods: The patient had a complete autopsy, drug screen and serological testing. A medical history was obtained and the literature was reviewed. Results: A 10-year-old African–American boy had massive hemoptysis while at home and died shortly thereafter in the emergency department of a local hospital. He had had two other episodes of hemoptysis in the past 2 months. At autopsy, he had bilateral inflammatory aneurysms of the lower lobe branches of the pulmonary arteries. The left aneurysm had eroded into the adjacent bronchus and accounted for the fatal hemoptysis. The right ventricle had endocardial fibrosis. Systemic vasculitis was absent. The child did not have oral, genital, eye or skin lesions at autopsy, or by clinical history. Based on the autopsy findings, a diagnosis of BD was made. Conclusions: We present the very unusual case of a 10-year-old African–American boy who died from hemoptysis resulting from bilateral pulmonary aneurysms caused by BD.