An Uncommon Case of Acute Brucellosis Presenting with Severe Thrombocytopenia


Dal S. E., ERSOY Y., ERKURT M. A., YETKİN F., KUZUCU Ç., Akdogan O.

INTERNAL MEDICINE, cilt.51, sa.23, ss.3291-3293, 2012 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 51 Sayı: 23
  • Basım Tarihi: 2012
  • Doi Numarası: 10.2169/internalmedicine.51.7365
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNAL MEDICINE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3291-3293
  • İnönü Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

A 49-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with complaints of fatigue, epistaxis and a skin rash. The whole blood count revealed isolated thrombocytopenia (4,000/mL), and the patient was admitted to the hematology department with a diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia. He did not respond to steroid treatment for 15 days, and a subfebrile fever developed during this period. A diagnosis of acute brucellosis was considered due to positive serological tests and a blood culture positive for Brucella spp. After starting doxycycline and rifampicin therapy, the patient's thrombocyte count increased to 15,000/mL on the third day, to 41,000/mL on the sixth day and was normal on the 21st day of treatment. A diagnosis of brucellosis must be considered in patients presenting with severe and isolated thrombocytopenia in countries where brucellosis is endemic.