Jennifer L Martindale1, Emily M Hayden. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Infectious intracranial aneurysms constitute a small subgroup of all intracranial aneurysms, but are an important cause of neurologic complaints in patients with infective endocarditis. OBJECTIVE: To describe a potentially fatal cause of neurologic complaints in patients with endocarditis. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 33-year-old woman with Streptococcus sanguinis endocarditis and several neurologic complaints including right arm numbness, confusion, and occasional word-finding difficulty that were found to be secondary to infectious intracranial aneurysm. CONCLUSION: Early consideration of intracranial infectious aneurysm in patients with infective endocarditis and neurologic symptoms is critical. Therapeutic intervention is often effective, and risk of aneurysm rupture is high.
BACKGROUND: Infectious intracranial aneurysms constitute a small subgroup of all intracranial aneurysms, but are an important cause of neurologic complaints in patients with infective endocarditis. OBJECTIVE: To describe a potentially fatal cause of neurologic complaints in patients with endocarditis. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 33-year-old woman with Streptococcus sanguinisendocarditis and several neurologic complaints including right arm numbness, confusion, and occasional word-finding difficulty that were found to be secondary to infectious intracranial aneurysm. CONCLUSION: Early consideration of intracranial infectious aneurysm in patients with infective endocarditis and neurologic symptoms is critical. Therapeutic intervention is often effective, and risk of aneurysm rupture is high.