title: Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias: comparison with patients without idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to describe computed tomography (CT) findings of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary infection in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP) in comparison with those in patients without IIP.
  
  
  METHODS
  From November 2001 to October 2012, 810 patients in the NTM registry were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, 42 patients (mean age, 69.7 years; 32 men and 10 women) who were diagnosed as having IIP by either histological or radioclinical criteria were included in our study. Eighty-two age- and sex-matched immunocompetent patients with NTM pulmonary infection and without IIP were selected as the control group. Medical records and CT scans were reviewed. Formal radiologic reports obtained before diagnosis of NTM infection were also reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lobar/segmental consolidation (85.7%) was the most common CT finding in the IIP group, whereas branching centrilobular nodules (95.1%), traction bronchiectasis (79.3%), and volume decrease (58.5%) were common in the control group. Frequencies of these findings were significantly different between the 2 groups (P < 0.001). Most of consolidations were associated with cavity (83.3%) without dominant zonal distribution. Pneumonia or fungal infection (n = 20) was the most common radiologic diagnosis in the IIP group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NTM pulmonary infection in IIP patients is characterized as lobar/segmental consolidation with/without cavity, different to immunocompetent patients without IIP, and can mimic other diseases especially bacterial/fungal infection.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Radiology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Gyeonggi-do; Departments of †Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology and ‡Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Jeon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Mi Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Sun
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Dong Soon
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054988:Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed