Nocardia pneumonia

This is a chest x-ray of an HIV-infected male, which shows patchy, right upper lobe consolidation. The most likely cause would be tuberculosis. However, at autopsy, nocardiosis was identified. Nocardiosis often imitates tuberculosis and is due to infection with Nocardia asteroides. It is more common in immunocompromised hosts, but may occur in those with an intact immune system. The autopsy specimen of this patient's lung is shown in image W0043131.