Unusual presentation of neurobrucellosis: A solitary intracranial mass lesion mimicking a cerebral tumor

Abstract

Among the diverse presentations of neurobrucellosis, solitary intracranial mass lesions are extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, we describe here the second case of neurobrucellosis mimicking a cerebral tumor caused by Brucella melitensis. The mass lesion was clinically and radiologically indistinguishable from a brain tumor. The diagnosis was established by isolating Brucella melitensis in a blood culture and a positive Wright's agglutination test on the cerebrospinal fluid at 1:320 titers. Paraffin sections of the cerebral mass showed nongranulomatous encephalitis. We suggest that patients with an isolated intraparenchymal mass lesion with nongranulomatous encephalitis should also be studied for brucellosis in endemic areas. © Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases 2012.