Abstract
A 12-year-old boy with a history of recurrent aphthous ulcerations and cutaneous erythema nodosum suddenly experienced chest pain. Together, the symptoms and a positive skin pathergy test established a diagnosis of Behçet's disease. An acute extensive anterior myocardial infarction was based on electrocardiography and a cardiac computed tomography confirmed an ascending aortic aneurysm. Coronary angiography showed mural irregularity and a 50% constriction in the first diagonal artery. Following treatment with urokinase, corticosteroids, colchicine, and aspirin, most symptoms gradually improved. There were no complications noted at the one-year follow-up evaluation. Myocardial infarction is a rare event in children with Behçet's disease; treatment with corticosteroids and colchicine can result in regression of concomitant aneurysm.
Copyright and license
Copyright © 2008 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.