Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma

We describe a case of 91-year-old male with astrocytoma who developed meningitis caused by Nocardia farcinica. He had a past medical history of anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. Endocranial computed tomography (CT) scan revealed mass lesion in the left occipital region associated with perilesional...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elahe Nasri, Hamed Fakhim, Aleksandra Barac, Saber Yousefi, Kouros Aghazade, Darko Boljevic, Massoud Mardani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2019-09-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/11582
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849313555875102720
author Elahe Nasri
Hamed Fakhim
Aleksandra Barac
Saber Yousefi
Kouros Aghazade
Darko Boljevic
Massoud Mardani
author_facet Elahe Nasri
Hamed Fakhim
Aleksandra Barac
Saber Yousefi
Kouros Aghazade
Darko Boljevic
Massoud Mardani
author_sort Elahe Nasri
collection DOAJ
description We describe a case of 91-year-old male with astrocytoma who developed meningitis caused by Nocardia farcinica. He had a past medical history of anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. Endocranial computed tomography (CT) scan revealed mass lesion in the left occipital region associated with perilesional edema, without evidence of midline shift issue. The analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed neutrophilic pleocytosis, hyperproteinorrachia and hypoglycorrhachia. Combined antimicrobial therapy was initiated (vancomycin, meropenem, acyclovir). CSF culture revealed Nocardia farcinica. Susceptibility testing revealed intermediate sensitivity to meropenem and antibiotic treatment was switched to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and imipenem. After 7 days of treatment the patient developed progressive dyspnea. The chest CT scan revealed bilateral pleural effusion and alveolar infiltrate mostly in the right lobe. Ceftriaxone was added to the therapy, but the outcome was lethal. Nocardia spp. should be considered as differential diagnosis in the patients with brain tumor or meningitis in the setting of immune suppression and corticosteroid use. CSF cultures should be incubated longer with aim to allow fastidious organisms to grow, such as Nocardia spp.
format Article
id doaj-art-2ae9e6e8f3bc4337910fdf1fdb467976
institution Kabale University
issn 1972-2680
language English
publishDate 2019-09-01
publisher The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
record_format Article
series Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
spelling doaj-art-2ae9e6e8f3bc4337910fdf1fdb4679762025-08-20T03:52:43ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802019-09-01130910.3855/jidc.11582Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytomaElahe Nasri0Hamed Fakhim1Aleksandra Barac2Saber Yousefi3Kouros Aghazade4Darko Boljevic5Massoud Mardani6Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, IranClinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, SerbiaDepartment of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, IranInfectious Diseases Research Center, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran”Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade, Serbia, School Of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, SerbiaInfectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran We describe a case of 91-year-old male with astrocytoma who developed meningitis caused by Nocardia farcinica. He had a past medical history of anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. Endocranial computed tomography (CT) scan revealed mass lesion in the left occipital region associated with perilesional edema, without evidence of midline shift issue. The analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed neutrophilic pleocytosis, hyperproteinorrachia and hypoglycorrhachia. Combined antimicrobial therapy was initiated (vancomycin, meropenem, acyclovir). CSF culture revealed Nocardia farcinica. Susceptibility testing revealed intermediate sensitivity to meropenem and antibiotic treatment was switched to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and imipenem. After 7 days of treatment the patient developed progressive dyspnea. The chest CT scan revealed bilateral pleural effusion and alveolar infiltrate mostly in the right lobe. Ceftriaxone was added to the therapy, but the outcome was lethal. Nocardia spp. should be considered as differential diagnosis in the patients with brain tumor or meningitis in the setting of immune suppression and corticosteroid use. CSF cultures should be incubated longer with aim to allow fastidious organisms to grow, such as Nocardia spp. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/11582Nocardia farcinicameningitisbrain abscessastrocytoma
spellingShingle Elahe Nasri
Hamed Fakhim
Aleksandra Barac
Saber Yousefi
Kouros Aghazade
Darko Boljevic
Massoud Mardani
Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Nocardia farcinica
meningitis
brain abscess
astrocytoma
title Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
title_full Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
title_fullStr Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
title_full_unstemmed Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
title_short Nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high-grade astrocytoma
title_sort nocardia farcinica meningitis in a patient with high grade astrocytoma
topic Nocardia farcinica
meningitis
brain abscess
astrocytoma
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/11582
work_keys_str_mv AT elahenasri nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT hamedfakhim nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT aleksandrabarac nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT saberyousefi nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT kourosaghazade nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT darkoboljevic nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma
AT massoudmardani nocardiafarcinicameningitisinapatientwithhighgradeastrocytoma