The First Surgical Treatment Case of Pulmonary Mycobacterium malmoense Infection in Japan

Abstract

Mycobacterium malmoense is a very rare pathogen of pulmonary infectious disease in Japan. We encountered a case of M. malmoense infectious lung disease which could be cured by surgical operation without chemotherapy. M. malmoense strains were isolated in both the bronchial washing lavage and the removed lung specimen, and it were identified using 16S rRNA gene and rpoB gene sequencing. This case might indicate that pulmonary infectious disease caused by a rare non-tuberculous mycobacteria pathogen should be positively considered to be treated surgically as an initial therapy when the patient's condition is admissive, and also indicated the importance of identification of the causative pathogen from surgical specimens. In addition, this was the second report of M. malmoense infectious disease, and the first case of surgical treatment case of M. malmoense lung disease in Japan, as far as we could determine.