Brucellosis misdiagnosed as arthritis: An analysis of 3 cases and literature review

Objective To analyze the distinctions between brucellosis and rheumatic diseases, and the causes of misdiagnosis of Brucellosis． Methods Clinical data about 3 patients with Brucellosis admitted to Chinese PLA 88th Hospital from February 2014 to March 2015 were retrospectively analyzed and related literatures were reviewed． Results Brucellosis had complex clinical presentation, and always involved in bones, joints and spine, also complicated with multiple organ damage． It was often misdiagnosed as rheumatic disease, such as ankylosing spondylitis, synovitis and vasculitis, etc． Conclusion Differential diagnosis and epidemiological investigation are required for Brucellosis in case of misdiagnosing as rheumatic disease．