[Febrile syndrome: myocarditis and brucellosis]

A 20 year-old white man was admitted with fever and weight loss since 60 days previous to his admission and cardiac failure (functional class IV). The heart was enlarged in the echocardiographic examination without valvular involvement. Liver biopsy showed granulomatous hepatitis with a necrosis focus. The patient was treated with a combination of venous dilators and digital. Serum agglutination test for Brucella showed a titer of 1/250, and complement fixation 1/40. Seven days later, agglutination titer was 1/4000. He was treated with rifampin and trimethoprimsulfametoxazol. He got better; fever disappeared, and the signs of cardiac failure improved. Brucellosic myocarditis is an uncommon complication of brucellosis in the absence of endocarditis. In our knowledge, this case would be the first reported in Argentina and the third in adult patients out of the five cases reported worldwide.