Case series reveals favorable long-term recovery in brucellar spondylitis, highlighting notable treatment failure and relapse risks.
Key Points
To evaluate the clinical manifestations, diagnostic delays, therapeutic regimens, and long-term outcomes in patients with brucellar spondylitis.
Retrospective review of N=35 patients aged 14–74 years (average 54 years) treated for brucellar spondylitis between January 1991 and December 1997.
Patients received antimicrobial therapy tailored to clinical response and presence of epidural/paravertebral masses (median duration 120 days, range 45–535 days), with surgical intervention performed when indicated.
Common symptoms included back or neck pain (100%), fever (66%), and constitutional symptoms (57%), with blood cultures positive for Brucella melitensis in 74% (26/35); time from symptom onset to diagnosis had a median of 9 weeks.
Surgical intervention for spinal epidural abscess was required in 1 of 35 patients.
Treatment failure occurred in 26% of patients (9/35; 95% CI, 12%–43%) and relapse occurred in 14% (5/35; 95% CI, 5%–30%), with zero deaths or severe long-term sequelae reported.