Clinical and radiographic feature of pulmonary nocardiosis: A study of 102 cases

Table 1 Clinical data of 102 patients with pulmonary nocardiosis

Item	n (%)
Sex (male)	55 (53.4)
Age (years)	61 (25.89)
Underlying diseases
Bronchiectasis	54 (52.9)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	8 (7.8)
Bronchial asthma	3 (2.9)
Type 2 diabetes	11 (10.7)
None	2 (1.9)
Immunosuppression	23 (22.5)
Others	11 (10.7)
Nocardia typing
Asian Nocardia	6 (6)
Nocardia gelsenkin	22 (22)
N. wallacei	7 (7)
N. abscessus	14 (14)
N. otitidiscaviarum	5 (5)
N. farcinica	12 (12)
N. beijingensis	2 (2)
N. novo	2 (2)
Beautiful Nocardia	1 (1)
Untyped	30 (29)
Detection methods
Sputum/BALF culture	41 (36/5)
Sputum/BALF mNGS	61 (12/49)

BALF: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; mNGS: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing.

Table 2 Culture results of metagenomic next-generation sequencing of sputum/bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in the 61 patients

Item	Sputum	BALF
Culture positive	1	1
Culture negative	11	48
Total	12	49

BALF: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

Table 3 Number of Nocardia patients in each year

Year	Sputum/BALF culture	Sputum/BALF NGS	Total
2017	9	0	9
2018	5	4	9
2019	9	6	15
2020	1	3	4
2021	5	6	11
2022	3	4	7
2023	7	17	24
2024	1	22	23

BALF: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; NGS: Next-generation sequencing.

Table 4 Radiographic features of pulmonary nocardiosis caused by different species

Radiographic features	Immunosuppression (18/102)	Nocardia gelsenkin (22/102)	N. abscessus (14/102)	N. farcinica (12/102)	N. wallacei (7/102)	Asian Nocardia (6/102)
Consolidation	13	13	11	9	1	4
Nodules	3	1	0	2	2	0
Cavitation	5	5	6	4	0	2
Pleural effusion	3	2	1	3	1	1
Bronchopneumonia	6	2	3	2	6	2

Table 5 Treatment of the 102 Nocardia patients

Medications	n
Sulfonamide monotherapy	61
+ Ceftriaxone	6
+ Minocycline	8
+ Linezolid	3
+ Imipenem	6
+ Amikacin	5
+ Amoxicillin	7
Other medications
Linezolid + minocycline	3
Minocycline	2
Contezolid	1