Clinical observations of brucellosis spondylodiscitis

The epidemiologic situation with brucellosis in the Russian Federation remains tense, especially in regions with developed livestock production. Despite the prevalence of brucellosis, its diagnosis is difficult due to the low alertness of physicians of infectious disease-related specialties in both high- and low-endemic regions. One of the clinical manifestations of brucellosis is lesions of the musculoskeletal system, manifested as spondylitis, spondylodiscitis, and epidural and paravertebral abscesses. The article presents two clinical cases of bone-articular brucellosis with the development of spondylodiscitis, which at the initial stage of the diagnostic search caused difficulties for physicians of related specialties and hid under the mask of neurologic and rheumatologic pathologies, which led to delay in making the correct diagnosis. The difficulty in diagnosing this disease was related to the multisystemic nature of the lesion, pathogenetic peculiarities of the development of the infectious process, insufficient vigilance of medical workers against brucellosis, and insufficient coverage of the population with health education on the risks of infection and early symptoms of this infection, even in highly endemic areas. Key words: brucellosis, human brucellosis, chronic brucellosis, spondylodiscitis, epidemiology of brucellosis, clinical features