title: Nine-year progression of untreated pulmonary Mycobacterium szulgai infection.
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.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary and Critical Care Section, West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA.
authors.forename: Kanwal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Randhawa
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smethurst
authors.forename: Guy W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Soo Hoo
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D018450:Disease Progression; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004977:Ethambutol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D004977:Ethambutol; D017291:Clarithromycin