Nocardia asteroides occipital abscess as a cause of lupus nephritis?

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem disease with a complex etiology, which manifests in a multitude of manners. We present a case of lupus nephritis in a patient who developed complications of immunosuppressive treatment with eventual resolution of her nephritis following cure of her Nocardia brain abscess. Lupus nephritis occurs in 50% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) within the first year of diagnosis. Emerging research has proposed the role of infections in SLE development. We present a unique case of Nocardia and lupus nephritis.