Brain, Vol. 110, No. 1, 213-223, 1987
© 1987 Oxford University Press
research-article |
CLINICAL CATEGORIES OF NEUROBRUCELLOSIS
A REPORT ON 19 CASES
1From the University Department of Neurology Ibn Sina Hospital, Kuwait 2From the Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University 3From the Medical Department, Al-Jahra Hospital 4From the MedicaI Department, Al-Adan Hospital Kuwait
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to: Dr R. A. Shakir, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, PO Box 24923, Safat, Kuwait 13110, Arabian Gulf.
Brucellosis rarely can present with involvement restricted to the nervous system. We describe a total of 19 cases of neurobrucellosis in whom the clinical presentation lay in three distinct categories. The first was an acute presentation with meningoencephalitis. The disease also presented in a chronic form where the brunt of the illness can either be in the peripheral or the central nervous system (CNS). The chronic peripheral form is that of a proximal polyradiculoneuropathy. The central form is that of diffuse CNS involvement, predominantly with myelitis or cerebellar involvement with or without cranial nerve palsies. Although the two chronic forms, 'peripheral' and 'central', are distinct, some overlap is possible. This was not observed for the acute form. The pathology of the three presentations may be different, being a direct effect of infection in the acute form, and an immune-related process, possibly demyelinating in nature, in the chronic forms. The response to treatment in the acute and chronic forms is also different, being much better in the acute form.
Awareness of the condition and performance of the appropriate serological tests will differentiate neurobrucellosis from other chronic CNS infections, especially tuberculosis and neurosyphilis.
Received February 14, 1986. Revised April 3, 1986. Accepted April 24, 1986.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  N. V. Tikare, B. G. Mantur, and L. H. Bidari Brucellar Meningitis in an Infant--Evidence for Human Breast Milk Transmission J Trop Pediatr, August 1, 2008; 54(4): 272 - 274. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. F. Araj, M. M. Kattar, L. G. Fattouh, K. O. Bajakian, and S. A. Kobeissi Evaluation of the PANBIO Brucella Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays for Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis Clin. Vaccine Immunol., November 1, 2005; 12(11): 1334 - 1335. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Pappas, N. Akritidis, M. Bosilkovski, and E. Tsianos Brucellosis N. Engl. J. Med., June 2, 2005; 352(22): 2325 - 2336. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G Pappas, S Markoula, S Seitaridis, N Akritidis, and E Tsianos Brucellosis as a cause of carpal tunnel syndrome Ann Rheum Dis, May 1, 2005; 64(5): 792 - 793. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. A. Drevets, P. J. M. Leenen, and R. A. Greenfield Invasion of the Central Nervous System by Intracellular Bacteria Clin. Microbiol. Rev., April 1, 2004; 17(2): 323 - 347. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. W. Al-Sous, S. Bohlega, M. Z. Al-Kawi, J. Alwatban, and D. R. McLean Neurobrucellosis: Clinical and Neuroimaging Correlation AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol., March 1, 2004; 25(3): 395 - 401. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. C. Baldi, G. F. Araj, G. C. Racaro, J. C. Wallach, and C. A. Fossati Detection of Antibodies to Brucella Cytoplasmic Proteins in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Neurobrucellosis Clin. Vaccine Immunol., September 1, 1999; 6(5): 756 - 759. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C E Clarke, P S Ray, and H A Abdelhadi An adolescent Pakistani girl with chronic meningitis Postgrad. Med. J., January 1, 1999; 75(879): 47 - 49. [Full Text]
|
|