Nocardia Arthritis: 3 Cases and Literature Review

Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Oct;94(42):e1671. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000001671.

Abstract

Nocardia are Gram-positive filamentous bacteria responsible for infections ranging from opportunistic life-threatening disseminated diseases to chronic skin and soft-tissue infections.Even if virtually all organs can be infected, articular involvement is rare. Therefore, we report 3 recent cases and performed a literature review of cases of Nocardia arthritis in order to describe clinical features, therapeutic challenges, and outcome of these patients.Among 34 patients (31 in the literature plus our 3 cases), 21 (62%) were due to hematogenous dissemination, 9 (26%) were due to direct bacterial inoculation through the skin, and in 4 cases, the mechanism of infection was unknown. Four out of these 34 cases occurred on prosthetic joints.Whereas hematogenous infections mostly occurred in immunocompromised hosts (17 of 21, 81%), direct inoculation was mostly seen in immunocompetent patients.Eighty-two percent of patients (28 out of 34) received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-containing regimens and median antibiotic treatment duration was 24 weeks (range, 12-120) for hematogenous infections and 12 weeks (range, 6-24) for direct inoculations. Outcome was favorable in 27 cases despite unsystematic surgical management (17 cases) without sequelae in 70% of the cases.Nocardia arthritis is rare but its management is complex and should rely on a combined approach with rheumatologist, infectious diseases expert, and surgeon.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Arthritis / drug therapy
  • Arthritis / microbiology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nocardia Infections* / drug therapy
  • Young Adult