A patient with rapidly changing pulmonary infiltrates and right flank pain

Case report

English

Salah Naghmush1, Ehtuish Faraj Ehtuish1, Anuj Mishra2, Jahnavi NB3

1- Department of Surgery, Tripoli Central Hospital 2-Department of Radiology, National Organ Transplant Centre, Tripoli Central Hospital 3-Department of Virology, Tripoli Medical Centre, Tripoli- Libya

JMJ Vo1.7 No.1 (Spring) 2007:74-76

Abstract

A 35 year old young woman presented with chest pain, intermittent fever, dyspnoea and right flank pain since one month. Laboratory investigations revealed thrombocytopenia and altered coagulation profile suggesting a hypercoagulable state. Imaging studies included sequential chest radiographs and contrast-enhanced computed tomographic (CT) scans which showed rapidly changing pulmonary infiltrates, pulmonary artery thrombus and right adrenal haemorrhage. The patient improved with anticoagulation therapy. This case is presented here to alert the physicians to the association of rapidly changing pulmonary infiltrates with pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) and pulmonary haemorrhage, and the clinical presentation suggestive of an underlying hypercoagulable state in a young female patient.

Keywords: Antiphospholipid syndrome, Adrenal haemorrhage, pulmonary thromboembolism

Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1383