An intrarenal abscess as presenting symptom of an infection with Nocardia farcinica in a patient after renal transplantation

Abstract: A 52-year-old man presented 8 months after transplantation with an intrarenal mass, which proved to be caused by an infection with Nocardia farcinica . Because of the potential fatal course of nocardiosis, transplantectomy was performed and long-term antibiotic treatment was instituted. Three-and-a-half years later, this patient underwent successful re-transplantation under co-trimoxazole prophylaxis. At present, more than 1 year after his second transplant has been performed, there are no signs of recurrence of Nocardia infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with nocardiosis with an intrarenal abscess as presenting symptom.