The Deathly Hallows of the Austrian Triad

Abstract

We have a case vignette of a 67-year-old gentleman who presented in with altered mentation and sepsis. During his hospital course, he was diagnosed with meningitis, endocarditis, and pneumonia hence completing the Austrian triad. He had no identifiable risk factors, but because of the timely diagnosis, he was given optimum treatment. He improved clinically and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility. Austrian syndrome is a pathological diagnosis caused by disseminated Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, characterized by the triad of pneumonia, endocarditis, and meningitis. We present this successfully treated case of a patient with no identifiable risk factors presenting as disseminated streptococcal pneumoniae infection.