[A case of Cushing's syndrome associated with Nocardia cerebral abscess]

A 58-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of general fatigue, thirst and lumbago. A diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome was made on the basis of elevated serum levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Although Cushing's disease was most suspected, no evident image of pituitary adenoma could be found on brain CT scan and MRI. Therefore, treatment with oral Trilostane was started. Three months after admission, left hemiplegia was noticed and cerebral abscess in the right frontal lobe was demonstrated by brain CT scan. In spite of surgical removal of the abscess by total resection, she had a relapse in the same site and also developed a new lesion in the left lateral lobe. Surgical drainage was performed and Nocardia asteroides was isolated from the drained pus. An intensive chemotherapy with aminobenzylpenicillin (ABPC) and latamoxef (LMOX) in combination resulted in marked decrease in size of the lesion in the brain and subsequent improvement of left hemiplegia was achieved. Since approximately one month before when a diagnosis of cerebral abscess was made, there had been demonstrated a coin lesion in the right middle field on chest X-ray films. This lesion in the right lung disappeared concomitantly with the improvement of the lesions in the brain. This fact strongly suggests that the lesion in both brain and lung were of the same nature. Nocardia is known to make a primary lesion in the lung after being inhaled and then through hematogenous dissemination to make distant lesions in various sites, especially in the brain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)