Abstract
A 58-year-old man was seen with complaints of fevers, night sweats, weight loss, and multiple bilateral cavitary lung lesions. Mycobacterium szulgai with nearly identical antibiograms grew from separate sputum specimens 9 years apart. He was treated with a combination of clarithromycin and ethambutol with clinical, microbiologic, and radiographic resolution of disease. This is the longest untreated case of documented Mycobacterium szulgai infection reported, and offers a glimpse of its natural history when left untreated. Despite an infrequent isolation (<0.5% of cases), it is a pathogenic organism which warrants treatment.
MeSH terms
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Antitubercular Agents / administration & dosage
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Antitubercular Agents / therapeutic use
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Clarithromycin / administration & dosage
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Clarithromycin / therapeutic use
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Delayed Diagnosis
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Disease Progression
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Drug Therapy, Combination
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Ethambutol / administration & dosage
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Ethambutol / therapeutic use
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Humans
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Lung Diseases / diagnosis
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Lung Diseases / drug therapy
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Lung Diseases / microbiology*
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / diagnosis
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / drug therapy
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / microbiology*
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Nontuberculous Mycobacteria*
Substances
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Antitubercular Agents
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Ethambutol
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Clarithromycin