Pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) has dreadful consequences and is one of the leading causes of death in Behçet’s disease (BD). A 35-year-old male patient with a five-year history of BD had symptoms of hemoptysis, dyspnea, intermittent fever, and chest pain. He received immunosuppressive therapy for three months by peripheral venous catheterization because of general vasculitis involving the eyes, pulmonary vasculature, and neurological system. A chest X-ray showed a circular opacity obliterating the right hilum. Computed tomography of the thorax revealed a PAA, 74 mm in diameter, originating from the right upper lobe artery. Another PAA, 2-3 mm in size, was identified at the upper branch of the left pulmonary artery. White blood cell count was 12x10⁶/ml, erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 67 mm/hr, and bacteriological analyses were all negative for bacteria. The PAA was removed by a right upper lobectomy. Bacteriological examination of fluid samples taken from the aneurysm pouch showed coagulase-negative staphylococcus (Staphylococcus epidermidis). Vancomycin was initiated according to the antibiotic sensitivity tests. After three weeks of antibiotherapy, leukocyte count was 7x10⁶/ml, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 25 mm/hr. It was thought that peripheral venous catheterization might be responsible for the access of infectious agent, which then gave rise to the development of PAA.

Keywords : Aneurysm/surgery; Behcet Syndrome/complications; pulmonary artery/pathology; Staphylococcus epidermidis