Chronic cavitary pneumonia by Rhodococcus equi in a highly prevalent tuberculosis country: a diagnosis challenge
ABSTRACT Rhodococcus equi is a facultative aerobic, intracellular, non-motile, non-spore-forming, Gram-positive, weakly acid-fast coccobacillus belonging to the group of nocardioform actinomycetes. R. equi infections are rare opportunistic illnesses in patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrom...
| Published in: | Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946201860074 https://doaj.org/article/5ecaab416f194c6ea58fe7b2e81c87a2 |
| Summary: | ABSTRACT Rhodococcus equi is a facultative aerobic, intracellular, non-motile, non-spore-forming, Gram-positive, weakly acid-fast coccobacillus belonging to the group of nocardioform actinomycetes. R. equi infections are rare opportunistic illnesses in patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), associated with a high mortality rate. The most common clinical presentation of R. equi infections is a chronic cavitary pneumonia. Due to its acid-fastness, R. equi can be mistaken for others acid-fast organisms, as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In turn, R. equi is also a gram-positive pleomorphic bacteria and can be mistaken for diphtheroids or Micrococcus organisms, being accidentally disregarded as oral contaminants in sputum cultures. Therefore, in Brazil, a highly prevalent tuberculosis (TB) country, pulmonary infections caused by R. equi may mimic pulmonary TB and represent a diagnostic challenge. Here, we report on a case of chronic cavitary pneumonia by R. equi in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patient, focusing on diagnostic aspects. |
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