ABSTRACT
Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the bacterial genus Brucella. It may affect several species of domestic and wild animals, as well as humans and considered one of the most common zoonotic diseases worldwide. The organism has the ability to survive in the intracellular environment, contained within polymorphonuclear cells and macrophages. The infection may be localized or systemic and soft tissue involvement is one of the rare presentations of localized brucellosis. Brucellosis in breast tissue, however is quite rare in human infections. These rare and nonspecific forms of brucellosis pose diagnostic challenges to clinicians.
In this study, in an attempt to draw attention about rare forms of brucellosis, we report a case of 51 years old female with brucellosis manifests as breast involvement. The patient presented with a breast mass which caused tenderness, redness and warmth around the mass on the left breast. Brucella spp. was isolated from the biopsy specimen and the diagnosis was confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction test. Additionally Brucella Rose Bengal test and Wright agglutination test (titer ≥1/1280) were found positive. Treatment with combination of doxycycline and rifampicin for a duration of eight months resulted in clinical cure.
Brucellosis should be considered in cases with nonspecific signs and symptoms, especially in the presence of sociodemographic risk factors. Agglutination tests in the diagnosis of brucellosis is a cost-effective diagnostic tool with rapid turnaround time. Although recovering Brucella spp. from microbiological cultures is essential for a definitive diagnosis, a molecular method such as PCR might be helpful in differential diagnosis.
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