Esophageal brucellosis? Straight to the goat

Abstract

We report the case of a 58-year-old immunocompetent man from Algeria, who presented to the hospital with fever and hepatic cytolysis. Abdominal computed tomography scan showed a homogeneous splenomegaly and a hypodense 12-mm mass on the posterior wall of the esophagus. After ruling out tuberculosis, the patient was diagnosed with brucellosis. Patient was cured after receiving 6 weeks of oral doxycycline and intravenous gentamicin during the 7 first days of therapy. Such treatment was considered as an acceptable alternative of the recommended first-line therapy. This case illustrates the diagnostic issues in the context of an authentic brucellosis presenting as upper gastrointestinal symptoms, with impaired general condition.

Keywords: Brucella melitensis; Brucellosis; Esophageal; Hepatitis; Location.