BACKGROUND The detection of mycobacterial DNA in clinical samples on the basis of the polymerase chain reaction is a promising approach for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculous infections. No consensus exists, however, about which protocols are most sensitive, and the usefulness of this approach in the diagnosis of tuberculous effusions has been assessed in few patients. METHODS The sensitivity...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous Mycobacterium species in the HIV-infected patient population in Colombia was uncertain despite some pilot studies. We determined the frequency of isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and of non-tuberculous Mycobacterium species in diverse body fluids of HIV-infected patients in Bogota, Colombia. METHO...

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections pose a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We report two cases of such infection of the spine in HIV-negative patients who presented with deformity and neurological deficit. The histopathological features in both specimens were diagnostic of tuberculosis. The isolates were identified as Mycobacterium intracellulare and M. fortuitum by genot...

Mycobacterium szulgai (M. szulgai) is an unusual pathogen in a human non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection. Pulmonary infection due to M. szulgai may be clinically and radiologically confused with active pulmonary tuberculosis. In contrast to other non-tuberculous mycobacteria, M. szulgai infection is well controlled by combination antimycobacterial therapy. Most of the previously reported ca...

The aim of this paper is to describe a rare case of vertebral osteomyelitis caused by Mycobacterium flavescens in an immunocompetent patient. Mycobacterium flavescens is a rapidly growing, pigmented, non-tuberculous mycobacterium, usually described as non-pathogenic for humans but occasionally reported as the cause of serious infectious complications recognized in clinical practice. This study ...

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) is a chronic inflammatory lung caused by infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). International guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations on appropriate diagnosis and treatment strategies, but there need for sharing day-to-day best practice between centers to optimize patient care. This particularly valuable rare disease...

INTRODUCTION Non-tuberculosis mycobacterium is especially seen in AIDS and non-immunosuppressant patients. This study was designed to evaluate data relating to non-tuberculosis mycobacterium content in patients' sputum for the clinical importance. PATIENTS AND METHODS During 2009-2010 at Sureyyapasa Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital clinics, 75 patients [30 women...

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) include more than 160 ubiquitous, environmental, acid-fast-staining bacterial species, some of which may cause disease in humans. Chronic pulmonary infection is the most common clinical manifestation. Although patients suffering from chronic lung diseases are particularly susceptible to NTM pulmonary disease, many affected patients have no apparent risk factor...

This prospective study evaluated the non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cases of lymphadenitis. A total of 76 isolates of mycobacteria were obtained from 200 lymph node aspirates suspected of tuberculosis, 74 of which were Mycobacterium tuberculosis, one was Mycobacterium fortuitum and one Mycobacterium kansasii. These results highlight the importance of NTM in HIV-negative patients as a case o...