Not everything acid-fast is Mycobacterium tuberculosis--a case of Nocardia.
We report a case of a 47 year old woman who presented with a history of motor convulsions and a three month history of an increasingly painful and progressively enlarging mass on the right side of her back. Neurological examination revealed generalised wasting and a right sided hemiplegia. A biopsy of the mass was taken for microbiology which reported growing branching gram positive rods after three days of incubation. A mycological diagnosis of Nocardia asteroides was made. An MRI scan revealed extensive infiltration of the fungal mass into extending from the base of the skull to fifth cervical vertebra.
Bhagat
K
K
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe. kbhagat@healthnet.zw
Ibrahim
H
H
Naik
K
K
D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009617:Nocardia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D009616:Nocardia asteroides; D012640:Seizures / Q000382:microbiology*