title: Hot tub lung: infection, inflammation, or both?
abstract: Increasing numbers of patients have presented with a hypersensitivity pneumonitis-type course in association with hot tub exposure. Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) organisms have been isolated from both patient specimens and hot tub water with matching fingerprints by restricted fragment length polymorphism and electrophoresis when performed. Review of the clinical, microbiologic, and radiographic presentations of 9 patients to the Mayo Clinic with this diagnosis are compared with 32 patients in the published literature. The diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of MAC hot tub lung are reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. aksamit.timothy@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Aksamit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006875:Hydrotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy