Abstract

Background: This report presents a child with spinal cord lesion with concomitant multiple brain abscesses caused by brucellosis.
Case Report: A 12-year-old boy was admitted with quadriplegia accompanied by back pain, headache, nausea, and incontinence which appeared six months before. MRI revealed multiple brain abscesses as well as spinal cord intramedullary lesions. The diagnosis of brucellosis was established by positive serum Wright test (1:2560) and 2-mercaptoethanol
agglutination titer (1:2560), history of exposure, and gradual improvement in response to treatment (rifampin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin, and prednisolone).
Conclusions: Neurobrucellosis may present with uncommon manifestations in children. Physicians should consider this infection in the differential diagnosis of a child with quadriplegia.

Keywords: Brucellosis - diagnosis, Brain Abscess - diagnosis, Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections - diagnosis, Child, Diagnosis, Differential, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Quadriplegia - etiology, Spinal Cord Diseases - diagnosis