Bordetella pertussis infection causing pulmonary hypertension

Abstract

In Spain the incidence of whooping cough is less than five cases per 100 000 inhabitants.1 Mortality rate is 0.4% in the United States, heart failure being one of the most frequent causes.2 Although cases of death due to Bordetella pertussis infection as a consequence of lung hypertension have been described previously,3–5 this complication is not very well known. Here we report a recent case and review the literature. A 23 day old girl, who had had a pertussive cough for several days, …