Abstract
Nocardiosis can be a localized or disseminated infection caused by an aerobic microorganism. In the central nervous system (CNS) is rare, only 2% of all brain abscesses. It usually affects immunocompromised patients and is uncommon in immunocompetent, but cause significant morbidity and mortality in both. There is no ideal treatment, surgery plays an important role because it facilitates the bacteriological diagnosis and sometimes relieve intracranial pressure.
This paper reports a patient of 58 years with severe headache and hemiparesis. The MRI showed multiple brain lesions. Studies to rule out brain metastases were done, but all were negative. One stereotactic brain biopsy, negative for malignancy was positive for Nocardia spp. The antibiotic treatment gave a significant clinical improvement and 18 months after treatment, patient is asymptomatic.
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