A Case of Brucellosis due to Brucella melitensis Isolated from Epidural Abscess

Abstract

Dear Editor,Brucella species can cause a zoonotic infection brucellosis which may affect multiple tissues in the body including musculoskeletal system. Vertebral brucellosis is relatively common in the patients who have musculoskeletal involvement and should be diagnosed rapidly in the endemic regions. Early diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial therapy combined with surgery are associated with an excellent prognosis; otherwise, delay in diagnosis increases the rate of morbidity and mortality [1] . Isolation of the microorganism from the tissue sample establishes the definite diagnosis and this is also necessary for the differential diagnosis. In this paper we aim to report a patient who presented to our clinic with spondylodiscitis and epidural abscess due to brucellosis.A 46-year-old female patient admitted to our setting with fever for 4 months, chills, and sweating which was exaggerated at night. She also had complaints of lower back pain lasting 2.5 months in addition to fatigue, lack of appetite, and weight loss. She had history of stockbreeding and ate unpasteurized dairy products. On physical examination, her body temperature was 37.5 °C, pain with local pressure was detected on the lumbar vertebrae, and her motor deficit grade was 2/5. The rest of general and neurological examinations were normal. The patient's laboratory test results were as follows: white blood cell count: 4590/mm 3 ; hemoglobin: 9.6 g/dL; hematocrit: 29.2%; erythrocyte sedimentation rate: 95 mm/h; C-reactive protein: 5.9 mg/L (normal, 0 to 0.8 mg/L); and a normal other blood biochemistry profile. The total serum protein, albumin, and globulin were also normal. There was no reversal of the albumin/ globulin ratio, and the Rose Bengal test was positive. The Wright agglutination test for Brucella was also positive at a titer of 1/2560. However, the patient was not tested by the 2-mercaptoethanol. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine was consistent with the diagnosis of spondylodiscitis. The height of the Intervertebral disc between L5-S1vertebrae was decreased in addition to signal abnormality on the vertebral corpus and vertebral endplates in MRI (Figure 1, 2). An epidural abscess, 54x22 mm in size, extending from the posterior of the L5 and S1 vertebrae to the paravertebral space and an abscess, 3x2 cm in size, on the anterior prevertebral space were identified. Upon laminectomy, a purulent epidural and prevertebral mass were evacuated. After decompression, the motor deficit was improved and the pain was relieved. On the Gram stain of the Anahtar Kelimeler: Bakteriyel enfeksiyonlar, Bruselloz, tedavi, epidural apse, dekompresyon cerrahisi