clinical and para-clinical features of brucellosis with and without spondylodiscitis

Background: brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease with protean clinical manifestations. osteoarticular involvement is the most common complication of the disease. this study aimed to compare the clinical and para-clinical manifestations of brucellosis among the patients with and without spondylodiscitis. methods: in this comparative and cross-sectional study, 135 patients having brucellosis with and without spondylodiscitis and admitted to sina hospital in hamadan, iran from march 2009 to march 2014 were included. clinical and para-clinical data of the patients were obtained from their medical records in the hospital based on a designed checklist. results: thirty-five patients having brucellar spondylodiscitis (bs) with the mean age of 55.60 ± 14.31 years, and 100 patients having brucellosis without bs with the mean age of 43.27 ± 18.35 years were examined. a significant difference was found between the mean age of the patients with spondylodiscitis and that of those without spondylodiscitis (p < 0.001). all patients with spondylodiscitis complained of back pain and vertebral tenderness, while 60% of the patients without bs suffered from back pain but experienced no vertebral tenderness (p = 0.003). the most common vertebral involvement in spinal mri of the patients with bs was l4-l5 (45.7%). patients with spondylodiscitis had more increased esr and crp than those without spondylodiscitis (p < 0.001). conclusion: it is recommended that brucellar spondylodiscitis be considered in the differential diagnosis of the patients with prolonged fever, back pain, and vertebrae tenderness in the endemic areas