title: Mycobacterium marinum tenosynovitis: three case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: Mycobacterium marinum is one of the nontuberculosis mycobacteria responsible for skin infections. There have been very few case series of M. marinum infections reported in the English literature. Herein, we describe three patients with M. marinum tenosynovitis. All patients had positive cultures and were exposed to pricking by a fishbone. The incubation period ranged from 7 to 60 days. Key elements in the diagnosis of this infection were a high index of suspicion raised by negative bacterial tissue cultures, poor response to conventional antibiotics treatment, a history of exposure to tropical fish and tissue biopsy for culture and histology. The treatment is essentially antimicrobial therapy supplemented by an appropriate surgical debridement, especially when deep structures are involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hung-Chin
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Susan Shin-Jung
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shue-Ren
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Wann
authors.forename: Yao-Shen
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yung-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D019910:Mycobacterium marinum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013717:Tenosynovitis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents