Cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis as presenting manifestation of infective endocarditis.

Seroimmunological alterations, including antibodies and/or cryoglobulins, are commonin infective endocarditis (IE); however, specificautoimmune disorders, such as cryoglobulinaemicvasculitis (CV) associated with IEhave seldom been described. CV is related tothe vascular deposition of circulating immunecomplexes, mainly cryoglobulins, and complement; in 70–90% of patients with CV a triggeringrole of hepatitis C virus (HCV) hasbeen suggested.We report the case of twopatients who showed a typical CV with severeneurological involvement as the presentingmanifestation of underlying IE.