J Korean Med Sci.  2010 Nov;25(11):1665-1668. 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.11.1665.

The First Case of Catheter-related Bloodstream Infection Caused by Nocardia farcinica

• Heo ST
• Ko KS
• Kwon KT
• Ryu SY
• Bae IG
• Oh WS
• Song JH
• Peck KR

• KMID: 1779240
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2010.25.11.1665

Abstract

Nocardia farcinica is an emerging pathogen in immunocompromised hosts. Even though several species of Nocardia have been reported as causative pathogens of catheter-related blood stream infections (CRBSI), CRBSI caused by N. farcinica has not been reported. A 70-yr-old man with a tunneled central venous catheter (CVC) for home parenteral nutrition was admitted with fever for two days. Norcardia species was isolated from the blood through CVC and peripheral bloods and identified to N. farcinica by 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequence analyses. This report emphasizes the rapid and correct identification of causative agents in infectious diseases in the selection of antimicrobial agents and the consideration of catheter removal.

Keyword

Nocardia farcinica; Catheter-related Blood Stream Infection (CRBSI); rpoB

MeSH Terms

Aged
Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism
Blood/microbiology
Catheter-Related Infections/*diagnosis/microbiology/nursing
Catheterization, Central Venous/*adverse effects
Humans
Immunocompromised Host
Male
Nocardia/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification
Nocardia Infections/*diagnosis
Parenteral Nutrition/nursing
Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics/metabolism
Sequence Analysis, DNA

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Phylogenetic tree of SMC-A7077 and closely related species of Nocardia based on partial rpoB gene sequences. The tree was reconstructed by the neighbor-joining method, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra was used as an outgroup. Numbers on branching nodes are percentages of 1,000 bootstrap replications. Only values of ≥50% are shown. The scale bar represents one substitution per 100 nucleotides.

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