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Updated: Jul 22, 2026

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Published on: September 9, 2015
Molecular diagnosis of Nocardia farcinica from a cerebral abscess
Kathleen M Tatti1, Wun-Ju Shieh, Sonya Phillips
1Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. ket2@cdc.gov
Abstract:
Histopathology and special stains of a brain biopsy specimen from a 42-year-old man revealed numerous gram-positive bacilli arranged in branching filaments, suggesting Nocardia infection. Antibiotic therapy with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole markedly decreased the abscess size, and the patient improved. DNA was analyzed from formalin-fixed sections of the cerebral abscess by a 16S ribosomal DNA polymerase chain reaction assay demonstrating the presence of either Nocardia farcinica or N otitidiscaviarum. A species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay confirmed N farcinica as the etiologic agent.

