title: Nontuberculosis mycobacteria at a multiresistant tuberculosis reference center in Bahia: clinical epidemiological aspects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine the prevalence and clinical/epidemiological aspects of patients with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) isolated from sputum provided by an outpatient clinic specializing in the treatment of multiresistant tuberculosis (MRTB) in Bahia, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients followed at the MRTB outpatient clinic of the Octávio Mangabeira Specialized Hospital (HEOM) were evaluated retrospectively from July 1998 to July 2003. All patients underwent direct examinations and cultures to identify the mycobacteria species found during initial and subsequent evaluations. The following variables were recorded: age, gender, clinical symptoms and signs, pre-existing lung disease, prior TB treatment, HIV serology, and NTM species. Categorical and quantitative variables were respectively characterized using proportions and measures +/- SD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NTM were isolated in 19 of 231 patients (8.2%; 95%CI: 5.2%-12.3%), with the following species distribution: 58% (11/19) M. chelonae/abscessus; 16% (3/19) M. avium-intracellular complex; 16% (3/19) M. kansasii; and 11% (2/19) M. fortuitum. HIV serology was positive for just one patient (5%), from whom M. chelonae/abscessus was isolated. Productive coughing was observed in all cases. American Thoracic Society (ATS) diagnostic criteria for NTM lung disease were observed in 14 patients (74%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of NTM isolated from patients referred to the MRTB outpatient clinic in Bahia was 8.2% (CI 95%: 5.2%-12.3%); rapid-growth mycobacteria (M. chelonae/M. fortuitum) were the most frequently isolated (68%).
authors.affiliation: Octávio Mangabeira Specialized Hospital, Salvador, BA, Brazil. elianadmatos@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Eliana Dias
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: Maria Angélica
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: Mariana Costa
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: de Santana
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mamede
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Lira Bezerra
authors.forename: Eliana Daltro
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Panão
authors.forename: Clovis S Schitini
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Antônio Carlos M
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lemos
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015995:Prevalence; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology