Introduction

Brucellosis is the most common bacterial anthropozoonosis in the world.¹ It is quite prevalent in developing countries like India with a predominant agrarian economy. Surveillance for brucellosis is not practiced regularly. It is underdiagnosed and under reported. The exact burden of this disease is not known in India because of paucity of reports. ²  The incidence of cardiovascular complications in brucellosis, such as endocarditis, myocarditis or pericarditis is reported to be as low as 1%¹² and usually <2% in most series.^2,3,4  In cases of endocarditis, the aortic valve is the most commonly affected. The mitral valve is affected much less commonly. ^4,5

1. Pappas G, Papadimitriou P, Akritidis N, Christou L and Tsianos E V. The new global map of human brucellosis; Infect. Dis. 2006; 6: 91–99
2. Mantur B G and Amarnath S K Brucellosis in India – a review; J. Biosci. 2008; 33 :539–547
3. Buzgan, T., Karahocagil, M.K., Irmak, H.,Baran, A.I., Karsen, H., Evirgen, O. &Akdeniz, H. Clinical manifestations and complications in 1028 cases of brucellosis: a retrospective evaluation and review of the literature. International Journal of Infectious Diseases 2010; 14: e469-e478.
4. Çalik, S. & Gökengin, A.D. Human brucellosis in Turkey: a review of the literature between 1990 and 2009. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences 2011; 41: 549-555.
5. Keshtkar-Jahromi M, Boroumand M, Razavi SM, Gholamin S, Haghighat B. Brucella endocarditis, a report of 14 cases (1991-2009). J Infect 2010; 61(1): 89-92.
6. Vishwanath Sathyanarayanan, Abdul Razak, Kavitha Saravu, Shastry Barkur Ananthakrishna, Mukhyprana Prabhu M, Vandana KE. Clinical profile of brucellosis from a tertiary care center in southern India. Asian Pacific J Trop Med 2011; 397-400.
7. Kokuglu OF, Hosuglu S, Geyik MF. Clinicla and laboratory features of brucellosis in two university hospitals in southeast Turkey. Trop Doct 2006; 36:49-51.
8. Mantur BG, Biradar MS, Bidri RC. Protean clinical manifestations and diagnostic challenges of human brucellosis in adults: 16 years’ experience in an endemic area. J Med Microbiol 2006; 55: 897-903.
9. Park, S.H., Lee, Y.H., Chu, H., Hwang, S.D., Hwang, K.J., Choi, H.Y. & Park, M.Y. Application of the microagglu-tination test for serologic diagnosis of human Brucellosis. Osong Public Health and Research Perspective. 2012; 3: 19-23.
10. Gad El-Rab M O and Kambal A M. Evaluation of a Brucella enzyme immunoassay test (ELISA) in comparison with bacteriological culture and agglutination. Infect.1998; 36: 197–201
11. Araj G F. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, not agglutination, is the test of choice for the diagnosis of neurobruc-ellosis; Infect. Dis. 1997: 25: 942
12. Kula S, Erer D, Buyukates M, Tunaoglu FS, Olgunturk R, Ozdogan EM. Brucella endocarditis: case report and review of the literature. J Heart Valve Dis2001; 10:486-488.
13. Kochar DK, Gupta BK, Gupta A, Kalla A, Nayak KC, Purohit SK. Hospital based case series of 175 cases of serologically confirmed brucellosis in Bikaner. J Assoc Physicians India 2007; 55:271-5.
14. Reguera JM, Alarcon A, Miralles F, Pachon J, Juarez C, Colmenero JD. Brucella endocarditis: clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic approach. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2003;22(11):647–50.
15. Shahla Roodpeyma. Brucella Endoc-arditis. Arch Pediatr Infect Dis. 2014;2(2)
16. Jeroudi MO, Halim MA, Harder EJ, Al-Siba'i MB, Ziady G, Mercer EN. Brucella endocarditis. Br Heart J. 1987;58(3):279–83.
17. Kose S, Serin Senger S, Ersan G, Oguz F, Kuzucu L. Presentation of two cases diagnosed with Brucella endocarditis. Intern Med.2012;51(8):953–5.
18. Asaad AM, Alqahtani JM. Serological and molecular diagnosis of human brucellosis in Najran, Southwestern Saudi Arabia. J Infect Pub Health. 2012;5:189-194.
19. Ozdemir M, Feyzioglu B, Guzel Kurtoglu M, Dogan M, Turk Dagi H,et al. A comparison of immunocapture agglutination and ELISA methods in serological diagnosis of brucellosis. Int J Med Sci 2011;8:428-432.
20. Osoba AO, Balkhy H, Memish Z, Khan MY, Al-Thagafi A, Al Shareef B, Al Mowallad A, Oni GA. Diagnostic value of Brucella ELISA IgG and IgM in bacteremic and nonbacteremic patients with brucellosis. J Chemother 2001Apr;13 Suppl 1:54-9.

Dr Baraneedaran S

T.D.M.C Hospital