Successful treatment with pneumonectomy for pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus infection

Intern Med. 2009;48(6):459-63. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.48.1763. Epub 2009 Mar 16.

Abstract

We report a case of pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) infection with destructive growth in the entire right lung. The patient was 56-year-old woman who had had pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 40 and had been diagnosed as having pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus infection 4 years prior to admission at our hospital. Although various antibiotics were administered, persistent fever, hemoptysis and weight loss developed. After undergoing a right pneumonectomy, her clinical symptoms improved dramatically and sputum excretions of M. abscessus ceased. No relapse of the disease has been observed in the 2 years since surgery. Pneumonectomy was very effective for refractory M. abscessus infection that destroyed the right lung.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / diagnosis
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / microbiology
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / surgery*
  • Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / isolation & purification*
  • Pneumonectomy / methods*
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / diagnosis
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / surgery*