J Korean Med Sci.  2002 Apr;17(2):279-282. 10.3346/jkms.2002.17.2.279.

Reactive Cutaneous Cytophagocytosis in Nocardiosis

• Kim CY
• Kim TH
• Lee WS
• Lee AY

• KMID: 648693
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2002.17.2.279

Abstract

Cutaneous nocardiosis, which usually manifests in the form of pustules, abscesses, or subcutaneous nodules, is occasionally found in immunocompromised patients. A 59-yr-old Korean man with myasthenia gravis and thymoma developed nodular skin lesions on his trunk. Histopathologically, abscess formation with a dense infiltrate of neutrophils and many cytophagic histiocytes were observed. Numerous filamentous organisms, which turned out to be Nocardia asteroides by culture, were also found. After sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim therapy, all of the skin lesions rapidly decreased in size, with a marked diminution of the number of cytophagic histiocytes, and cleared up within four months. On reporting a case of cutaneous nocardiosis showing unusual histopathologic findings, we considered that reactive conditions should be included in the differential diagnosis of the cutaneous cytophagocytosis, and that nocardiosis could be one of the diseases showing reactive cytophagocytosis.

Keyword

Phagocytosis; Panniculitis; Nocardia asteroides; Immunocompromised Hosts

MeSH Terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
Histiocytes/*immunology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Myasthenia Gravis/complications
Neutrophils/*immunology
Nocardia Infections/drug therapy/*immunology/microbiology/pathology
Nocardia asteroides/drug effects/*immunology/isolation & purification
Phagocytosis/*immunology
Skin Diseases, Bacterial/drug therapy/*immunology/microbiology/pathology
Thymoma/complications
Thymus Neoplasms/complications
Treatment Outcome
Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Combination/therapeutic use