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Disseminated Nocardia paucivorans infection in an immunocompetent host

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Abstract

Nocardia paucivorans is a recently discovered species that has been shown to have a predilection for CNS involvement in cases of disseminated infection. We present a 50-year-old man with one year of weight loss admitted to the hospital with cough and confusion. Imaging revealed pulmonary and iliopsoas masses as well as innumerable ring-enhancing brain lesions. N. paucivorans was eventually identified in a subcarinal lymph node biopsy. The diagnosis was expedited by utilizing 16s rRNA gene sequencing on the biopsy tissue, resulting in species-level identification several weeks prior to culture positivity. He was treated with 12 months of parenteral and oral antibiotics, with resolution of pulmonary and brain lesions on repeat imaging.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Maria Pletneva and Stephanie Chen for their assistance in obtaining the photograph of the lymph node biopsy specimen seen in Fig. 3.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose with any of the material presented within the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, 3211 Taubman Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., SPC 5378, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5378, USA

    M. Hammoud, C. Chenoweth & K. S. Gregg

  2. University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    C. Kraft & J. Pulst-Korenberg

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  1. M. Hammoud
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  2. C. Kraft
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  3. J. Pulst-Korenberg
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  4. C. Chenoweth
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  5. K. S. Gregg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. S. Gregg.

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Hammoud, M., Kraft, C., Pulst-Korenberg, J. et al. Disseminated Nocardia paucivorans infection in an immunocompetent host. Infection 42, 917–920 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-014-0609-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-014-0609-1

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