Published online Nov 25, 2013. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.v3.i4.86
Revised: October 4, 2013
Accepted: November 2, 2013
Published online: November 25, 2013
Most cases of nocardiosis are seen in immunocompromised patients. Primary lymphocutaneous is a relatively uncommon presentation of this disease that may also occurs in normal hosts. Diagnosing this infection requires a high index of suspicion since cultures can take several days to exhibit growth. The microbiology laboratory must therefore be notified about cases in which this pathogen is suspected. We report four cases of primary lymphocutaneous norcardiosis. Of particular interest is the association of three of these cases with gardening.
Core tip: Nocardiosis is an infection most often seen in immunocompromised individuals. In particular, primary cutaneous disease rarely occurs in normal hosts. We present a case series of patients that developed this infection after gardening. As nocardial infections are frequently mistaken for routine pyogenic processes and as routine cultures are rarely kept long enough to show growth, this condition should be considered in patients with such a history and cultures should be incubated for several weeks.