Acute brucellosis associated with leukocytoclastic vasculitis and splenic infarct

Abstract

Brucellosis is globally the most prevalent multisystem infection of zoonotic origin, while it is still one of the most important public health problems in Turkey as non-pasteurised milk and dairy products are consumed. Early diagnosis is vital to prevent the possibly lethal complications caused by the disease. However, diagnosis might be delayed as the disease does not have a single and typical manifestation and presents with various symptoms of different systems. Brucellosis and associated splenic infarct have rarely been studied, there being few cases in the literature. One of the rare involvements in this disease is dermatological involvement, which has been found in less than 10% of brucellosis cases. In this study, we discuss a 17-year-old male patient who was admitted to our hospital due to fever, abdominal pain, arthralgia and rash on legs, diagnosed with brucellosis through brucellosis tube agglutination test and found to have splenic infarct upon examination and leukocytoclastic vasculitis according to the skin biopsies in the light of the present literature. © 2014, Le Infezioni in Medicina. All rights reserved.