Nocardia otitidis-cavarium is rarely isolated as an infectious pathogen in the western world. We report on a 71-year-old Caucasian man with membranous glomerulonephritis who presented with several seemingly unrelated clinical symptoms that, after laborious diagnostics, turned out to be caused by disseminated infection with N. otitidis-cavarium. This case highlights the variable clinical presentations that can occur in nocardial infections and underscores the need to search for rare pathogens in patients taking immunosuppressive medication.
2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.