Solitary spinal intramedullary abscess caused by Nocardia asteroides

Nocardial spinal cord abscesses are extremely rare. Only three have been reported, one each from Austria, Thailand, and the United States. All three patients also had extraneurologic nocardiosis. We present the first case of an intramedullary abscess caused by Nocardia asteroides and without concomitant extraneurologic nocardiosis. It is also the first such abscess in a living human being to be diagnosed by both magnetic resonance imaging and tissue culture. Resolution was complete after treatment.