Shell vial culture as a tool for isolation of Brucella melitensis in chronic hepatic abscess.

A 50-year-old man was admitted with a liver abscess and positive serology for Brucella spp. Liver pus and blood cultures remained sterile on conventional culture. Inoculation of liver pus onto eukaryotic cells by the centrifugation-shell vial technique yielded Brucella melitensis, identified by 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing.