Pulmonary Nocardiosis Mimicking Pulmonary Tuberculosis in an Immunocompetent Patient Diagnosed by Cytology of Bronchoscopic Lavage

Nocardia infections are common in immunocompromised and organ transplant patients, although Nocardia species only rarely cause infections in immunocompetent patients.Pulmonary nocardiosis is the most common clinical manifestation of Nocardia species, and may imitate several pulmonary diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in such high-risk settings for TB as Trkiye.We present here a rare case of an immunocompetent patient with pulmonary nocardiosis mimicking tuberculosis in terms of the history, clinical symptoms and radiological findings.Acid-fast staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction testing of the bronchoscopic lavage were negative for TB, and no Mycobacterium species proliferated in the culture.Two similar diseases were differentiated by lavage cytology.The patient improved dramatically following a short course of treatment over two months.