Definition

• Infectious disease caused by organisms of the genus Nocardia
• Several distinctive syndromes
  • Respiratory tract disease
    • Most common: pneumonia
    • Less common: laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, sinusitis
  • Extrapulmonary/disseminated disease
    
    • Typically presents as subacute abscess
      
    • Can involve any organ—most commonly brain, skin, kidneys, bone, muscle
  • Disease after transcutaneous inoculation
    • Cellulitis
    • Lymphocutaneous syndrome
    • Actinomycetoma
      • Indolent, slowly progressive disease of skin and underlying tissues, with nodular swellings and draining sinuses
  • Keratitis
• Pneumonia and disseminated disease are the most common syndromes.

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