Chlorambucil-induced cytomegalovirus infection: a case report

Pulmonary and cutaneous infection caused by Nocardia farcinica in a patient with nephrotic syndrome: A case report

RATIONALE

Nocardia species is known as conditional pathogenic bacteria. Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia species is rare and occurs primarily in immunosuppressed patients. Signs and symptoms of this infection are frequently nonspecific making early diagnosis and treatment difficult.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We report a case of subcutaneous and pulmonary nocardiosis due to Nocardia farcinica (N farcinica) in a patient with nephrotic syndrome who is undergoing long-term corticosteroid therapy. In this patient, systemic and pulmonary symptoms (usually found in nocaria infection) such as fever, cough, and expectoration were absent.

DIAGNOSES

Early diagnosis was made by pus culture from subcutaneous abscesses and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, which confirm the diagnosis of N farcinica infection.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient was treated with combination therapy of cefatriaxone and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for 2 weeks, and the treatment with TMP-SMX continued to 6 months.

OUTCOMES

The abscesses were cured in 4 weeks and a lesion in the upper lobe of left lung resolved in 3 months.

LESSONS

This case indicates that disseminated infection due to N farcinica could occur in patients with nephrotic syndrome, even during the period of maintenance therapy with a low-dose corticosteroid and common signs and symptoms of infections could be absent.

Primary Cutaneous Nocardiosis in a Patient With Nephrotic Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Nocardia infection is not common in clinical practice and most cases occur as an opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients.We report a case of primary cutaneous nocardiosis characterized by multiple subcutaneous abscesses due to Nocardia brasiliensis in a patient with nephrotic syndrome undergoing long-term corticosteroid therapy. The patient was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome 9 months ago, and mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis was confirmed by renal biopsy. Subsequently, his renal disease was stable under low-dose methylprednisolone (8 mg/d). All of the pus cultures, which were aspirated from 5 different complete abscesses, presented Nocardia. Gene sequencing confirmed that they were all N. brasiliensis. The patient was cured by surgical drainage and a combination of linezolid and Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole.The case highlights that even during the period of maintenance therapy with low-dose corticosteroid agents, an opportunistic infection still could occur in patients with nephrotic syndrome.