Endogenous Nocardia endophthalmitis: report of a case in a patient treated for lymphocytic lymphoma

A patient with pulmonary, cerebral, and intraocular nocardiosis is reported. The intraocular disease was first recognized at autopsy. Only 7 patients with intraocular nocardiosis have been described previously. The intraocular lesions were central and paracentral, and the distribution resembled those described in 5 of the previous patients with metastatic intraocular disease. The ocular histology differed from those cases previously reported in that a granulomatous reaction accompanied the suppurative component. Malignant lymphoma treated with radiation therapy, cytotoxic drugs, and steroids formed the background against which the disease occurred in this patient.