title: Successful treatment of Mycobacterium terrae complex infection of the knee.
abstract: Mycobacterium terrae is an unusual, ubiquitous organism that can cause clinical disease in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts and can be difficult to diagnose and treat. We report a case of a 61-year-old man with a septic knee whose arthroscopy cultures grew M. terrae. The patient was successfully treated using a 6-month regimen of clarithromycin and sulfamethoxazole. Mycobacterium terrae should be considered in the differential diagnoses for monoarticular swelling and pain of unknown etiology, especially in the setting of initially negative routine microbiological cultures.
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ucrucla2012@gmail.com
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lembo
authors.forename: Ellie J C
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Orin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Troum
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mandelbaum
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001182:Arthroscopy; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017291:Clarithromycin; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole