Nocardia asteroides pericarditis: report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

In this report, we describe a patient who had purulent Nocardia asteroides pericarditis. In addition, we identified 13 previously suspected and reported cases of Nocardia pericarditis, but only 5 of these studies reported isolation of Nocardia from cultures of pericardial fluid or pericardium. Analysis of the clinical course of these five patients and our patient revealed the importance of long-term sulfonamide antibiotic therapy in combination with surgical pericardial drainage procedures. In our review, only patients who received antibiotics and underwent pericardiectomy survived. Our case substantiates the excellent penetration of sulfisoxazole into the pericardial fluid, even with oral administration of the drug, and provides evidence in support of aggressive management of Nocardia pericarditis.