Spinal brucellosis: case report in the United States.

Abstract

Case report. To increase awareness of spinal brucellosis and discuss demographics, diagnosis, and treatment. Brucellosis is a rare cause of spinal infections in the United States, although there have been regional increases in its prevalence. Retrospective review of a patient with spinal brucellosis. She underwent a protracted course of treatment, with a long delay in diagnosis. History ultimately revealed regular consumption of unpasteurized goat cheese. Appropriate testing subsequently led to the diagnosis. After multiple surgeries and medications, the condition responded well to definitive antibiotic therapy. Brucellosis is rare in the United States and thus often overlooked in the differential diagnosis of back pain. The changing risk pattern for this disease requires a high index of suspicion, which can result in early diagnosis and predictably favorable results to treatment.