Brucellar epididymo-orchitis in southeastern part of Turkey: an 8 year experience

OBJECTIVE: the different clinical and laboratory features and response to treatment of patients with acute brucellar epididymo-orchitis (BEO) reporting to the reference hospital in Southeastern Anatolia of Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHODS: in this study, 27 male patients with brucellosis, who presented with epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis (EO) at the university hospital in Diyarbakir from 1998 to 2006, were included. They were compared with the other male patients. Positive blood culture or high agglutination titers of > 1/160 and positive clinical manifestations of brucellosis were the main criteria for diagnosing brucellosis. RESULTS: fourteen patients had unilateral EO. Leukocytosis was present in 10 patients; all of them had initial agglutination titers of > 1/160 and 10 patients had a positive blood culture. All patients received combined therapy with streptomycin for the first 21 days (or oral rifampicin for 6-8 weeks) with doxycycline or tetracycline for 6-8 weeks. All showed improvement, fever subsided in 3-7 days, and the scrotal enlargement and tenderness regressed. Only one patient had a relapse within one year. CONCLUSION: in brucellosis-endemic areas, clinicians encountering EO should consider the likelihood of brucellosis. In this study, young age was the most common risk factor, and leukocytosis and high CRP level were the most common laboratory findings. Most cases were unilateral. All patients responded to medical management very well. Conservative management with combination antibiotic therapy was adequate for managing BEO. Conclusively, brucellosis must be considered as a cause of orchitis, especially in endemic regions like Turkey.

Brucella melitensis: a rarely suspected cause of infections of genitalia and the lower urinary tract

We examined the clinical presentation and outcome of Brucellar infections of genitalia and the lower urinary tract through a review of the medical records of 10 cases of male patients with brucellar infections of the genitalia and lower urinary tract. The mean age of the patients with brucellosis was 49.2, (median 52, range 15-77 years). Eleven out of 17 patients were rural residents, 15 reported that they might have consumed unpasteurized dairy products) and four reported occupational exposure. Symptoms onset was acute in almost all cases. Scrotal pain, epidedimal swelling and fever were the most common symptoms. The Wright test was positive in 13 patients, while Brucella sp. was isolated from blood cultures in six cases. Only two patients were found with abnormal liver ultrasonography. All patients underwent treatment with doxycycline and aminoglycoside for seven days and doxycycline alone for two months. Most of them responded to antibiotic therapy with rapid regression of symptoms. One patient failed to respond to therapy and presented necrotizing orchitis, as well as abscesses, which required orchectomy. Brucellar infections of the genitalia and lower urinary tract have no specific clinical presentation; the usual laboratory examination is not sufficient to diagnose this kind of infection, therefore it could easily be misdiagnosed. An analytical medical history (including overall dietary habits and recent consumption of non-pasteurized dairy products) could indicate Brucelosis as would the persistence of symptoms despite a one-week antibiotic treatment. In general, patients afflicted by brucellar epididymoorchitis respond to Brucellosis antibiotic therapy, except for some rare cases that present necrotizing orchitis and require surgical treatment.

Brucella epididymo-orchitis: a consideration in endemic area

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella sp. and may affect many parts of the body. Brucella epididymo-orchitis had been reported in up to 20 percent of patients with brucellosis. This is a case report of Brucella epididymo-orchitis in a Saudi male patient. He presented with a unilateral swelling of the left testicle. He had fever, arthralgia and night sweats. Ultrasound examination revealed enlarged left epididymis and testicle. Brucella serology was positive and the patient responded to treatment with doxycycline and gentamicin. Thus, brucella infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with epididymo-orchitis from an endemic area.

Acute epididymo-orchitis - is empirical therapy for Chlamydia trachomatis justified?

In sexually active males, the commonest organisms causing acute epididymo-orchitis are Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonnorhoae. The peak incidence is seen during 20's. The aim of our study was to prove that in majority of cases of acute epididymo-orchitis, the bacterial pathogens cannot be isolated. The reason being that the pathogen responsible in majority of cases is Chlamydia trachomitis which cannot be isolated by routine bacteriological techniques. We reviewed the cases of acute epididymo-orchitis and studied the percentage of patients in which bacterial pathogens were isolated. The clinical and microbiological data of patients from Aug. 2003 to Sep. 2005 was reviewed. The clinical diagnosis of acute epididymo-orchitis was confirmed by scrotal ultrasonography. Midstream urine sample were processed by using standard culture techniques. Patients were followed for a period of three months. There were total 97 patients, with median and interquartile range of 20 and 17-25 years respectively. At the time of presentation the median duration of symptoms was 4.5 days, while median hospital stay was 5 days. Scrotal pain was the main presenting symptom. Pyuria was noticed in 41 [43%] patients and in only 12 [14%] of these the bacterial pathogens were isolated. Main organisms being Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. We have concluded that Chlamydia trachomatis can not be isolated by routine bacteriological techniques. Currently available diagnostic methods are cumbersome and expensive. Therefore there is a need to develop simpler techniques, which can be made available in moderately equipped laboratories; in order to facilitate the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis. Presently the patients in whom the causative organisms can not be isolated can safely be treated for Chlamydia trachomatis

Brucellosis as a cause of orchitis

A total of 48 cases of orchitis were collected, the age range is between 15-54 years, 28 of these cases were due to brucellosis, so that brucellosis is a common cause of orchitis particularly at the age between 15-24. The majority of positive cases were at a dilution of 1/320, all patients were treated with a triple therapy of rifampicin, tetracycline and trimethoprim, all cases were responding to this therapy during three weeks