Cerebral nocardia abscesses in a patient with AIDS: correlation of magnetic resonance and white cell scanning images with neuropathological findings.

We present a case of cerebral nocardiosis in a patient with AIDS. Space-occupying lesions were identified using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and white cell scanning. Nocardia asteroides was isolated from blood cultures. The patient's response to treatment with amikacin, imipenem and ceftriaxone was followed clinically and radiologically. When he died 6 months later, N. asteroides was isolated at post-mortem from a cerebral abscess. Although cerebral infections associated with the infiltration of neutrophils are rare in patients with AIDS, this case demonstrates that indium-labelled neutrophils can be used to identify a brain abscess and monitor its response to antimicrobial therapy.