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 0.5×0.8 cm 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)