Primary cutaneous Nocardia otitidiscaviarum infection: case report and review.

Organisms of the genus Nocardia cause a variety of illnesses in humans and other mammals. Nocardiae normally enter the body via the respiratory tract, but they may also be directly inoculated into the skin, causing primary cutaneous disease. Nocardia otitidiscaviarum is one of the less commonly isolated species of Nocardia, but it can produce localized or disseminated infection. We report a case of primary cutaneous N. otitidiscaviarum infection and review the clinical and microbiological features of other reported cases. Cutaneous N. otitidiscaviarum infection usually occurs in the setting of trauma, most often in otherwise healthy hosts. The manifestations of N. otitidiscaviarum skin infection range from cellulitis and abscess formation to the development of mycetomas. Cutaneous infection by N. otitidiscaviarum can mimic disease caused by more common pyogenic organisms, often leading to delay in diagnosis and treatment. Appropriate antibiotic therapy, usually with a sulfa drug-containing regimen, is generally successful.