DOI: 10.12890/2023_004110

Large-vessel vasculitis and Q fever correlation

Authors

  • Joana C. Ramos Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC), Coimbra, Portugal
  • Daniela Santos Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC), Coimbra, Portugal
  • Patrícia Dias Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC), Coimbra, Portugal

joanacramos16@gmail.com

Keywords

Large-vessel vasculitis, Q fever, FDG-PET/CT scan

Abstract

Q fever is a zoonotic infection caused by the pathogen Coxiella burnetii, and patients can present with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, depending on whether it is an acute or a chronic infection.
We present the case of a 61-year-old male with fatigue, posterior thoracalgia, intermittent fever, night sweats and weight loss for a month. After an extensive workup, he was diagnosed with acute Q fever with large-vessel vasculitis. The FDG-PET/CT scan suggested an active vasculitis specifically in the thoracic aorta, proximal abdominal aorta, subclavian and carotid vessels, suggesting an immunologic response to acute Q fever infection, barely reported worldwide.

View the entire article

Downloads

References

  1. Hartzell JD, Gleeson T, Scoville S, Massung RF, Wortmann G, Martin GJ. Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with Q Fever by the Armed Forces Infectious Diseases Society. Mil Med 2012;177:489–494.
  2. Million M, Raoult D. Recent advances in the study of Q fever epidemiology, diagnosis and management. J Infect 2015;71(S1):S2–9.
  3. Miller HK, Priestley RA, Kersh GJ. Q Fever: a troubling disease and a challenging diagnosis. Clin Microbiol Newsl 2021;43:109–118.
  4. Eldin C, Melenotte C, Million M, Cammilleri S, Sotto A, Elsendoorn A, et al. 18F-FDG PET/CT as a central tool in the shift from chronic Q fever to Coxiella burnetii persistent focalized infection: a consecutive case series. Medicine (Baltimore) 2016;95:e4287.
  5. Beydon M, Rodriguez C, Karras A, Cez A, Rafat C, Jourde-Chiche N, et al. Bartonella and Coxiella infections presenting as systemic vasculitis: case series and review of literature. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022;61:2609–2618.

Published

2023-12-15

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2024)

Categories

How to Cite

1.
Ramos JC, Santos D, Dias P. Large-vessel vasculitis and Q fever correlation. EJCRIM [Internet]. 2023 Dec. 15 [cited 2026 Nov. 3];11(1). Available from: https://ejcrim.com/index.php/ejcrim/article/view/4110