TABLE 1.
Main characteristics of the study population (n = 68)
| Characteristica | Finding |
|---|---|
| Age at diagnosis (median [range]) (yr) | 54 (5–89) |
| Male (n [%]) | 42 (61.7) |
| Underlying conditions for nocardiosis (n [%])b | |
| Corticosteroid | 27 (39.7) |
| Immunosuppressive treatment | 27 (39.7) |
| Chronic bronchopulmonary disease or asthma | 27 (39.7) |
| Solid organ transplantation | 14 (20.5) |
| Allogeneic HSCT | 14 (20.5) |
| Primary immunodeficiencyc | 9 (13.2) |
| HIV infection | 7 (10.2) |
| Autologous HSCT | 4 (5.8) |
| Comorbidities (n [%]) | |
| Diabetes mellitus (n = 66) | 10 (15.1) |
| Neutropenia (n = 64)d | 2 (3.1) |
| SXT prophylaxis (n [%]) | 25 (36.7) |
| Type of clinical sample for Nocardia PCR testing (n [%]) | |
| Respiratory samples | |
| BAL fluid sample | 40 (58.8) |
| Bronchial sampling specimen | 7 (10.2) |
| Sputum sample | 6 (8.8) |
| Lung biopsy specimen | 2 (2.9) |
| Other specimens | |
| Abscess specimen | 5 (7.3) |
| Cutaneous biopsy specimen | 3 (4.4) |
| Pleural fluid sample | 2 (2.9) |
| CSF sample | 2 (2.9) |
| Lymph node specimen | 1 (1.4) |
| PCR result (n [%]) | |
| Positive | 32 |
| Positive for N. farcinica | 14 (43.7) |
| Clinical/radiological presentation (n [%]) | |
| Pulmonary | 61 (89.7) |
| Disseminated disease | 15 (22) |
| Cutaneous or muscular | 10 (14.7) |
| Cerebral | 6 (8.8) |
| Deep-seated abscess | 4 (5.8) |
| Othere | 8 (11.7) |
| Duration of symptoms before sampling (median [range]) (days) (n = 57) | 30 (1–730) |
| Outcome of death at 6 mo (n [%]) (n = 67) | 10 (14.7) |
a
BAL, bronchoalveolar lavage; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; SXT, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
b
Each patient could have several underlying conditions.
c
Primary immunodeficiencies included chronic granulomatous disease (n = 3), defect of the interleukin-12 (IL-12) axis (n = 2), severe combined immunodeficiency (n = 2), lymphohistiocytosis (n = 1), and X-linked agammaglobulinemia (n = 1).
d
Defined as polymorphonuclear cell counts of <500 cells/mm3.
e
Other includes lymph node (n = 4), bone (n = 2), blood (n = 1), eye (n = 1), and liver (n = 1) involvement.