Sensorineural hearing loss in neurobrucellosis

Abstract

Neurobrucellosis (NB) is a rare clinical presentation of brucellosis. This form is hard to diagnose because of a lack of definite diagnostic criteria, and its treatment is also hard. The clinical spectrum may cover a span between non-specific neurological symptoms to a severe meningoencephalitis. We report 3 patients with NB, whose main complaint was sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) who were followed up at our hospital for 3 years. We diagnosed NB by positive CSF cultures in 2 patients and by a positive brucella IgG agglutination titer in blood and CSF in the third. Sensorineural hearing loss is a rare complication of NB, which has not attracted enough attention among known manifestations. Neurologists and otologists should be aware of this symptom as a probable clinical presentation of brucellosis.