Mortality After Nocardiosis: Risk Factors and Evaluation of Disseminated Infection

Zachary A Yetmar; Ryan B Khodadadi; Supavit Chesdachai; Jack W McHugh; Douglas W Challener; Nancy L Wengenack; Wendelyn Bosch; Maria Teresa Seville; Elena Beam

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad409

Mortality After Nocardiosis: Risk Factors and Evaluation of Disseminated Infection

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Aug 1;10(8):ofad409. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad409. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Zachary A Yetmar¹, Ryan B Khodadadi¹, Supavit Chesdachai¹, Jack W McHugh², Douglas W Challener¹, Nancy L Wengenack³, Wendelyn Bosch⁴, Maria Teresa Seville⁵, Elena Beam¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases, and Occupational Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
³ Division of Clinical Microbiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
⁴ Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Abstract

Background: Nocardia primarily infects patients who are immunocompromised or those with chronic lung disease. Although disseminated infection is widely recognized as an important prognostic factor, studies have been mixed on its impact on outcomes of nocardiosis.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adults with culture-confirmed nocardiosis. Advanced infection was defined as disseminated infection, cavitary pulmonary infection, or pleural infection. The primary outcome was 1-year mortality, as analyzed by multivariable Cox regression.

Results: Of 511 patients with culture growth of Nocardia, 374 (73.2%) who had clinical infection were included. The most common infection sites were pulmonary (82.6%), skin (17.9%), and central nervous system (14.2%). In total, 117 (31.3%) patients had advanced infection, including 74 (19.8%) with disseminated infection, 50 (13.4%) with cavitary infection, and 18 (4.8%) with pleural infection. Fifty-nine (15.8%) patients died within 1 year. In multivariable models, disseminated infection was not associated with mortality (hazard ratio, 1.16; 95% CI, .62-2.16; P = .650) while advanced infection was (hazard ratio, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.37-4.49; P = .003). N. farcinica, higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, and culture-confirmed pleural infection were also associated with mortality. Immunocompromised status and combination therapy were not associated with mortality.

Conclusions: Advanced infection, rather than dissemination alone, predicted worse 1-year mortality after nocardiosis. N. farcinica was associated with mortality, even after adjusting for extent of infection. While patients who were immunocompromised had high rates of disseminated and advanced infection, immunocompromised status did not predict mortality after adjustment. Future studies should account for high-risk characteristics and specific infection sites rather than dissemination alone.

Keywords: advanced infection; disseminated infection; mortality; nocardia; nocardiosis.