Clinical and Radiographic Characteristics of <i>Nocardia</i> vs Non- <i>Nocardia</i> Brain Abscesses
Sara C. LaHue, Elan L. Guterman, Mathew Mikhail, Yi Li, Soonmee Cha, Megan Richie
Abstract
Background and Objectives: bacterial brain abscesses. Methods: bacterial infection. The primary outcomes were the diagnosis of concomitant lung infection and history of immunosuppression. Secondary outcomes included abscess radiographic characteristics: multifocality, occipital lobe and/or infratentorial location, and bilobed morphology. Results: < 0.001). Blood and CSF cultures were negative in most of the cases and controls, whereas neurosurgical specimen culture yielded a diagnosis in 100% of specimens. Discussion: abscesses. The combination of clinical and imaging findings may suggest CNS nocardiosis and inform early initiation of targeted empiric treatment.