Skip to main content
British Heart Journal logoLink to British Heart Journal
. 1994 Jan;71(1):82–86. doi: 10.1136/hrt.71.1.82

Wegener's granulomatosis and the heart.

S C Grant 1, R D Levy 1, M C Venning 1, C Ward 1, N H Brooks 1
PMCID: PMC483617  PMID: 8297703

Abstract

Three cases of Wegener's granulomatosis with cardiac complications are described and the relevant published reports are reviewed. The first case of Wegener's granulomatosis was associated with aortic regurgitation and required aortic valve replacement. The second and third cases were associated with pericardial disease requiring pericardiectomy for constructive pericarditis in one case, and haemorrhagic pericarditis with pericardial effusion in the other. Aortic valve involvement in Wegener's granulomatosis is uncommon and valve replacement has been described on only one previous occasion. Pericardial involvement is relatively common pathologically, but pericardial surgery has been described in this condition only twice, once for tamponade and once for constrictive pericarditis after pericardiocentesis. Cardiac involvement is not uncommon in patients with Wegner's granulomatosis and may be clinically important. Diagnosis is aided by estimation of the anti-neutophil cytoplasmic antibody titre.

Full text

PDF
82

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allen D. C., Doherty C. C., O'Reilly D. P. Pathology of the heart and the cardiac conduction system in Wegener's granulomatosis. Br Heart J. 1984 Dec;52(6):674–678. doi: 10.1136/hrt.52.6.674. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dabbagh S., Chevalier R. L., Sturgill B. C. Prolonged anuria and aortic insufficiency in a child with Wegener's granulomatosis. Clin Nephrol. 1982 Mar;17(3):155–159. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fauci A. S., Haynes B. F., Katz P., Wolff S. M. Wegener's granulomatosis: prospective clinical and therapeutic experience with 85 patients for 21 years. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Jan;98(1):76–85. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-98-1-76. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fauci A. S., Wolff S. M. Wegener's granulomatosis and related diseases. Dis Mon. 1977 Apr;23(7):1–36. doi: 10.1016/s0011-5029(77)80004-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Forstot J. Z., Overlie P. A., Neufeld G. K., Harmon C. E., Forstot S. L. Cardiac complications of Wegener granulomatosis: a case report of complete heart block and review of the literature. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 1980 Nov;10(2):148–154. doi: 10.1016/0049-0172(80)90005-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gerbracht D. D., Savage R. W., Scharff N. Reversible valvulitis in Wegener's granulomatosis. Chest. 1987 Jul;92(1):182–183. doi: 10.1378/chest.92.1.182. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kosovsky P. A., Ehlers K. H., Rafal R. B., Williams W. M., O'Loughlin J. E., Markisz J. A. MR imaging of cardiac mass in Wegener granulomatosis. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1991 Nov-Dec;15(6):1028–1030. doi: 10.1097/00004728-199111000-00024. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Krulder J. W., Niermeijer P. Reversible atrioventricular block due to Wegener's granulomatosis. Neth J Med. 1985;28(1):28–31. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Meryhew N. L., Bache R. J., Messner R. P. Wegener's granulomatosis with acute pericardial tamponade. Arthritis Rheum. 1988 Feb;31(2):300–302. doi: 10.1002/art.1780310224. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ramírez G., Khamashta M. A., Hughes G. R. The ANCA test: its clinical relevance. Ann Rheum Dis. 1990 Oct;49(10):741–742. doi: 10.1136/ard.49.10.741. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Savage C. O., Winearls C. G., Jones S., Marshall P. D., Lockwood C. M. Prospective study of radioimmunoassay for antibodies against neutrophil cytoplasm in diagnosis of systemic vasculitis. Lancet. 1987 Jun 20;1(8547):1389–1393. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(87)90591-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schiavone W. A., Ahmad M., Ockner S. A. Unusual cardiac complications of Wegener's granulomatosis. Chest. 1985 Nov;88(5):745–748. doi: 10.1378/chest.88.5.745. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Timoshenko V. S., Polushin O. G., Fisenko A. I. Sluchai granulematoza Vegenera s porazheniem aortal'nogo klapana. Arkh Patol. 1989;51(12):55–58. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Venning M. C., Quinn A., Broomhead V., Bird A. G. Antibodies directed against neutrophils (C-ANCA and P-ANCA) are of distinct diagnostic value in systemic vasculitis. Q J Med. 1990 Dec;77(284):1287–1296. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/77.3.1287. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Weidhase A., Gröne H. J., Unterberg C., Schuff-Werner P., Wiegand V. Severe granulomatous giant cell myocarditis in Wegener's granulomatosis. Klin Wochenschr. 1990 Sep 3;68(17):880–885. doi: 10.1007/BF01662788. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Yanda R. J., Guis M. S., Rabkin J. M. Aortic valvulitis in a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis. West J Med. 1989 Nov;151(5):555–556. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. van der Woude F. J., Rasmussen N., Lobatto S., Wiik A., Permin H., van Es L. A., van der Giessen M., van der Hem G. K., The T. H. Autoantibodies against neutrophils and monocytes: tool for diagnosis and marker of disease activity in Wegener's granulomatosis. Lancet. 1985 Feb 23;1(8426):425–429. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91147-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Heart Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES