Abstract
Although cases of referred shoulder pain due to ischemic heart disease have been well documented, to our knowledge no reports on infective endocarditis accompanied by referred right shoulder pain have been published. A 43-year-old Japanese man presented with severe right shoulder pain and a body temperature of 38°C.Blood tests showed inflammation and liver dysfunction, although magnetic resonance imaging did not indicate septic shoulder arthritis. However, contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed renal, splenic, and hepatic infarctions. Moreover, a labile vegetation was detected on an echocardiogram. The patient was diagnosed with infective endocarditis and antibiotics were administered intravenously. Infective endocarditis is a serious condition that can result in complications if it is not diagnosed and treated at an early stage. Therefore, in cases with referred shoulder pain, physicians should carefully consider the presence of internal diseases that may cause this condition, as in the present case.
