Nocardiosis characteristics in the 20 patients
| Characteristic | No of episodes (%) |
|---|---|
| *Breast in 2 patients; prostate and tongue in 1 patient each. †Cardiac in 2 patients and renal in 1 patient. ‡In combination with other immunosuppressive treatment (azathioprine, cyclosporine, OKT-3) in 3 patients. ¶Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in one HIV positive patient; Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in one patient with cancer; cytomegalovirus infection in one cardiac transplant recipient; Mycobacterium intracellulare, cytomegalovirus, and Toxoplasma sp. infection in one cardiac transplant recipient. §Presented as primary infection or as part of disseminated infection. **Lung, peritoneum, and blood involvement. | |
| CNS, central nervous system; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. | |
| Underlying condition | |
| Solid organ malignancy* | 4 (20) |
| HIV infection | 3 (15) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 3 (15) |
| Solid organ transplantation† | 3 (15) |
| Idiopathic lymphopenia | 1 (5) |
| Chronic granulomatous disease | 1 (5) |
| Common variable immunodeficiency | 1 (5) |
| Chronic lung disease | |
| Cystic fibrosis | 1 (5) |
| Sarcoidosis | 1 (5) |
| Corticosteroids administered one month before nocardiosis‡ | 6 (30) |
| Immunosuppressive chemotherapy administered one month before nocardiosis | 4 (20) |
| Radiotherapy received during the previous year | 1 (5) |
| Coinfection ¶ | 4 (20) |
| Nocardia spp | |
| N asteroides | 13 (65) |
| N asteroides complex | 4 (20) |
| N farcinica | 1 (5) |
| N nova | 1 (5) |
| N brasiliensis | 1 (5) |
| Site of infection | |
| Pulmonary§ | 16 (80) |
| CNS | 2 (10) |
| Cutaneous | 2 (10) |
| Disseminated** | 1 (5) |
| Outcome | |
| Cure/improvement | 15 (75) |
| Failure | 1 (5) |
| Relapse | 1 (5) |
| Death | 3 (15) |