Aortic valve aneurysm: A novel cardiac manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis?

This report describes a 51-year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis, coronary artery disease, left ventricular failure, and saccular aneurysm of the lef t coronary cusp of the aortic valve. Rheumatoid arthritis can involve the h eart in several ways; however, aortic valve aneurysm in rheumatoid arthriti s has not been reported before. Absence of vegetation, Lack of a history of infective endocarditis, and the preservation of aortic valve function sugg ested that this saccular aneurysm was not a result of infective endocarditi s. An intimal flap, which strongly suggests aortic dissection, was not obse rved. To our knowledge, this may be a novel cardiac manifestation of rheuma toid arthritis, and this is the first published report.