Ocular nocardiosis in a renal transplant patient: a warning of life-threatening underlying systemic disease.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a case of an immunosuppressed patient with history of renal transplant that presented with sudden unilateral loss of vision.


METHODS
Case report. Review of medical records.


RESULTS
A 49-year-old man with history of renal transplantation presenting with visual symptoms without initial systemic manifestations. Because of the rarity of ocular involvement, the patient's diagnosis of Nocardia asteroides endophthalmitis was delayed culminating in systemic involvement and necessitating enucleation of the eye.


CONCLUSIONS
Nocardiosis is a serious life-threatening complication in immunosuppressed patients. Visual symptoms and endophthalmitis in this population should raise the suspicion of a possible serious systemic infection like nocardia.
Princess Margaret Hospital, *Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada †Valley Retina Institute, PA, McAllen, Texas ‡Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston, Massachusetts §Department of Pathology, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
G Paolo
GP
Giuliari
Ama
A
Sadaka
Ralph
R
Eagle
Victor H
VH
Gonzalez