Systemic Nocardiosis: An autopsy case

Park, Eun Sun; Lee, Kyo Young; Shim, Sang In; Kim, Sun Moo

Abstract

Nocardia species are aerobic, gram-positive, acid-fast, filamentous branching bacilli. Nocardia is a localized or disseminated infection which may involve all tisuses and is produced by members of the genus Nocardia, principally N. asteroides. Other species, notably N. brasiliensis and N. caviae have been implicated, but N. asteroides appears to be the overwhelming predominant pathogen. Nocardial infections are usually opportunistic in the compromised host, at least 15% of the infections occurred in patients without a definable predisposing condition. Recently, we experienced an autopsy case of systemic nocardiosis. The patients was fiffty-three days old female infant, who had suffered from productive cough, dyspnea and fever. The patient was treated under the impression of the miliary tuberculosis, but she died at 34th hosital day. The postmortem examination reveals multiple tan gray colored abscess involving both lungs, both kidneys, and thymus. Microscopically, lung, kidney and thymus reveal multiple abscess, which are composed of necrotic tissue debris admixed with infiltrates of neutrophils, and they are surrounded by fibrosis, ad acute and chronic inflammatory cells. By histologic, microbiologic and biochemical studies, N. asteroides is identified in the lesion of the lung, kidney, thymus, and bronchial washing specimen.