A Case of Pulmonary Thromboembolism in a Patient with  Hyperhomocysteinemia.

Oh, Sook Eui; Jung, Jae Hun; Yoon, Seong Bo; Yoon, Hyeon Young; Park, Jong Kyu; Lee, Dong Hun; Hong, Sung Ho; Woo, Kung Hee; Choi, Seonghoon; Lee, Sang Hak; Lee, Namho

doi:2007.62.3.211

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 62(3); 2007 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2007;62(3):211-216.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.62.3.211 Published online March 1, 2007.

A Case of Pulmonary Thromboembolism in a Patient with Hyperhomocysteinemia.

Sook Eui Oh, Jae Hun Jung, Seong Bo Yoon, Hyeon Young Yoon, Jong Kyu Park, Dong Hun Lee, Sung Ho Hong, Kung Hee Woo, Seonghoon Choi, Sang Hak Lee, Namho Lee

Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. unny@hallym.ac.kr

Abstract

Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular diseases that are complicated by atherosclerosis and a thromboembolism. An increased level of plasma homocysteine develops from a genetic defect in the of enzyme for the homocysteine metabolism or a vitamin deficiency. Hyperhomocysteinemia has direct toxic effect on the vascular endothelium and causes damages to the antithrombotic action of vascular endothelial cells. Most cases of hyperhomocysteinemia are asymptomatic, but cardiopulmonary or cerebrovascular incidents developin rare cases. In the case of a thromboembolism with an unknown cause, hyperhomocysteinemia should be considered in a differential diagnosis. The authors report a case of pulmonary thromboembolism in a patient with hyperhomocysteinemia with a review of the relevant literature.

Key Words: Hyperhomocysteinemia, Pulmonary embolism