Jingjing He,1 Shengkui Tan,2 Jiannan Lv3 

1Department of Infection, Baise People’s Hospital, Baise, 533000, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangxi Clinical Medical Research Center for Hepatobiliary Diseases, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People’s Republic of China; 3Guangxi Clinical Medical Research Center for Hepatobiliary Diseases, Department of Infection, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Shengkui Tan; Jiannan Lv, Email sktan2008@163.com; gxaidscc@163.com

Abstract: The Nocardia infection of the central nervous system (CNS) in HIV-positive individuals is difficult to diagnose and treat, often requiring a combination of at least two drugs during the maintenance phase. In this article, we report a case of CNS Nocardia terpenic infection in an AIDS patient diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS), which was ultimately treated successfully with sulfamethoxazole monotherapy due to adverse drug reactions. Additionally, we reviewed the relevant literature to explore individualized treatment options for CNS Nocardia infections in patients with AIDS and to provide clinicians with evidence-based treatment recommendations.

Keywords: AIDS, Nocardia terpenica, central nervous system, tNGS, case report