Brucellosis Presented as Thyroiditis: A Rare Case Report

Abstract

Brucellosis is an endemic zoonotic disease around the world such as Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Brucella is brought into attention by affecting various organs thorough complications, but thyroiditis is a rare one. Here, we present a case of Brucellosis with neck discomfort and odynophagia who developed thyroiditis and was treated by antibiotic and corticosteroid therapy. This case report aims to draw clinicians' attention to thyroiditis as a rare complication of brucellosis.

Acute Thyroiditis Associated with Brucellosis: A Case Report

“…Brucella thyroiditis is more often observed in women [3,4,5,8,9,10,11,13]. In men, as in our case, it is very rare [6,7,14] and the reason for such gender distribution still remains unclear.…”

“…In this study we described a rare case of acute thyroiditis, which according to the clinical characteristics, the course, and the adequate response to antibrucellar treatment is due to brucella etiology. Acute bacterial thyroiditis is a rare phenomenon, due to natural thyroid gland defense mechanisms, which include thyroid gland anatomic position, its capsulated nature and the lack of direct communication with neighboring structures, high iodine content, high vascularity and extensive lymphatic neck drainage [5,6,9]. Consequently, brucella thyroiditis is an extremely rare condition [6,9].…”

“…Acute bacterial thyroiditis is a rare phenomenon, due to natural thyroid gland defense mechanisms, which include thyroid gland anatomic position, its capsulated nature and the lack of direct communication with neighboring structures, high iodine content, high vascularity and extensive lymphatic neck drainage [5,6,9]. Consequently, brucella thyroiditis is an extremely rare condition [6,9]. In a large Turkish study of 1028 patients with brucellosis, only one case with brucella thyroiditis was found [15].…”

“…In brucella thyroiditis, parameters of inflammation vary from slightly [5,8], to moderately elevated [7,11], while thyroid function tests are usually within normal range [7,10,13]. However, deviations are possible, like lower TSH and elevated T4 [3,5,9,11].…”

“…It is an extremely rare condition and less than 20 cases are reported in the literature, almost exclusively as case reports. In the descriptions, predominated cases with thyroid gland abscess [4][5][6][7][8], but also acute [9][10][11],…”