Atrial Septal Defect Presenting With Brucella Endocarditis

Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonosis that behaves as a systemic infection with various clinical signs and symptoms. Brucella endocarditis, although a rare complication of Brucella infection, is nevertheless responsible for the majority of deaths related to this illness. Brucella endocarditis was associated with an atrial septal defect (ASD) in a 45-year-old woman. Echocardiography showed a secundum ASD with vegetations of 0.5x8cm arising from the border of the defect, and serologic analysis was positive for Brucella agglutinin, thus confirming the diagnosis. She was initially treated with a 1-month preoperative course of antibiotics. At Surgery, the vegetations were excised and the defect was closed with polypropylene. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and she was discharged on the 10(th) postoperative day. (Circ J 2008; 72: 2096-2097)