Acute Brucellosis Presenting with Bleeding Tendency due to Isolated Severe Thrombocytopenia

Case Rep Infect Dis. 2018 Sep 23:2018:7867435. doi: 10.1155/2018/7867435. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Mild anemia and leukopenia are the most common hematologic findings in the course of acute brucellosis. Severe form of thrombocytopenia is less frequently reported. We describe a case of acute brucellosis in a 20-year-old man, who presented with fever, purpuric skin lesions, epistaxis, and hematuria. The absolute platelet count was 2 × 109/L. The patient was diagnosed as suffering from brucellosis on the basis of a strongly positive serologic reaction and was treated with antibiotics and a short course of corticosteroids, with a rapid rise in platelet count. Brucella infection can cause immune-mediated thrombocytopenia that is reversible after appropriate antimicrobial therapy and steroid treatment.

Publication types

  • Case Reports