[Infectious or inflammatory aortitis? One case report]

The infectious or inflammatory nature of an aortitis is difficult to assert because the microbiological results are often negative. The development of an aneurysm under treatment is rare, but requires a change in the therapeutic strategy and the etiologic diagnosis needs to be discussed again.We report the case of a 69-year-old woman treated by corticotherapy for an aortitis thought to be inflammatory, who required emergency surgery when a dissected aneurysm appeared. The peroperative samples were positive to Streptococcus pneumoniae using polymerase chain reaction and allowed a change of the diagnosis. The patient evolved favorably under antibiotic therapy.The decision to treat an aortitis by corticotherapy must be made with caution even if the microbiological tests are negative.