An intrarenal abscess as presenting symptom of an infection with Nocardia farcinica in a patient after renal transplantation

Abstract

A 52-year-old man presented 8 months after transplantation with an intrarenal mass, which proved to be caused by an infection with Nocardia farcinica. Because of the potential fatal course of nocardiosis, transplantectomy was performed and long-term antibiotic treatment was instituted. Three-and-a-half years later, this patient underwent successful re-transplantation under co-trimoxazole prophylaxis. At present, more than 1 year after his second transplant has been performed, there are no signs of recurrence of Nocardia infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with nocardiosis with an intrarenal abscess as presenting symptom.