J Comput Assist Tomogr 1995 Sep;19(5):726-732; CT features of pulmonary nocardiosis.
Buckley JA, Padhani AR, Kuhlman JE
OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to identify the CT features of pulmonary nocardiosis,
specifically in AIDS patients versus
other immunocompromised hosts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients
with pulmonary nocardiosis
were identified; medical records, CT scans, and chest radiographs were
reviewed. Five patients had HIV disease, 17
had other causes of immunosuppression, and 2 had normal immunity. RESULTS:
CT features of pulmonary nocardiosis
included one or more nodules/masses (20/24 cases, 83%), cavitation
(8, 33%), consolidation/infiltrates (8, 33%), and
pleural thickening (7, 29%). All AIDS patients with nocardiosis had
multiple (four or more) nodules detected on CT and
80% (4/5) had cavitation compared with 21% each of non-AIDS patients
(p < 0.01 for multiple nodules, p < 0.045 for
cavitation). CONCLUSION: CT features of pulmonary nocardiosis are varied,
and AIDS patients are more likely to
display cavitation and multiple nodules. Although not widely recognized,
Nocardia infection should be included in the
differential diagnosis of an unexplained nodule or progressive cavitary
process in HIV-positive patients.
PMID: 7560317, UI: 96024780
