Septic arthritis caused by Nocardia asteroides in a renal transplant recipient.
Although articular complications are common following renal transplantation, septic arthritis is not frequent. Previous bacterial infection in an another site is a consistent finding and the knee is the most often affected joint. We present a 30-year-old female renal transplant recipient with recurrent pulmonary infiltrates preceding septic arthritis of her left knee. Cultures of the aspirated synovial fluid yielded a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium later identified as Nocardia asteroides. The patient was treated with oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole without any side effect. Nocardia is a rare but serious cause of infection in renal transplant recipients but there is no well-known predisposing factor. Recently mycophenolate mofetil has been implicated as a factor associated with Nocardia infections. Prolonged courses of treatment with sulphonamides are recommended.
Kahraman
S
S
Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Genctoy
G
G
Arici
M
M
Cetinkaya
Y
Y
Altun
B
B
Caglar
S
S
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009617:Nocardia Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009616:Nocardia asteroides; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents