To present a case of symmetrical signal intensity of the posterior column of the cervical spinal cord on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in a thirty-six-year-old man with Neurobrucellosis.

A thirty-six-year-old male presented to an emergency department with headaches, abdominal pain, vomiting, right arm weakness and confusion. He stated he had a similar headache six months ago which resolved without intervention. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was fourteen (E4 V4 M6), but quickly deteriorated with worsening agitation to the point of requiring intubation. His inflammatory markers were normal and on initial examination he was afebrile with normal observations. He had not travelled outside of Australia in two years and had not been in contact...

MRI findings in neurobrucellosis are broad and non-specific however, due to the nature of symptoms some patients will get an MRI of the head and spine prior to investigations for brucellosis are even considered and thus findings on MRI are important to understand. Three main articles stood out in the literature that helped classify MRI findings in neurobrucellosis. The Istanbul-3 study (1) looked at cranial imaging findings of 263 patients in 2016. Of the 263, 143 had normal imaging. Of those who had abnormal imaging,...

Brucellosis is a rare zoonotic infection in Australia, however due to its wide range of differentials and its high morbidity it is essential to understand the condition and further study its findings to assist with differentiation and early diagnosis. Studies in the literature categorize the broad findings, however this case has identified symmetrical signal intensity at the posterior column of the spinal cord on MRI as a potential new finding for neurobrucellosis.

Erdem H et al. Cranial imaging findings in neurobrucellosis: results of Istanbul-3 study. Infection. 2016 Oct;44(5):623-31. doi: 10.1007/s15010-016-0901-3. Epub 2016 May 2. PMID: 27138335. Changqin Jiang, Lianfang Shen, Qiang Feng, Wei Fang, Ruisheng Jiang, Wanwei Zhang, Zhijun Ma, MRI features and categories of neurobrucellosis: A pooled review, Radiology of Infectious Diseases, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2018, Pages 1-6, ISSN 2352-6211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrid.2018.02.001. Al-Sous MW, Bohlega S, Al-Kawi MZ, Alwatban J, McLean DR. Neurobrucellosis: clinical and neuroimaging correlation. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2004 Mar;25(3):395-401. PMID: 15037461; PMCID:...