Antiphospholipid syndrome: an important differential diagnosis for culture-negative endocarditis

Sometimes the initial diagnosis proves secondary to an illness that is diagnosed later. This was the case when a 37-year-old woman presented to the hospital with sudden-onset persistent left-sided weakness. While she reported pain in the right maxilla, lethargy, and malaise in the month prior to presentation, she denied headache, sensory change, visual disturbances, fever, chills or weight loss. Hypertension was her only cardiovascular risk factor, but she took no regular medications. She had no history of stroke, ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or miscarriage, and she had no family history of cardiovascular disease.
Source: The American Journal of Medicine - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: research