Nontubercular mycobacterial pulmonary infection in immunocompetent men.

BACKGROUND: Nontubercular mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly recognized to cause lung disease in immunocompetent patients. We studied the occurrence of pulmonary infection due to NTM in immunocompetent men.

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all sputum mycobacterial cultures at our institution over a 5-year period. Charts were reviewed to identify patients who met the American Thoracic Society's criteria for mycobacterial pulmonary infection.

RESULTS: From the 7,380 sputum mycobacterial cultures obtained, 46 male patients had NTM identified. Forty-two patients were immunocompetent. Five of these patients were found to have NTM--2 with Mycobacterium kansasii, 2 with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, and 1 with Mycobacterium gordonae. All 5 patients responded to antimycobacterial therapy.

CONCLUSION: Twelve percent of our population of immunocompetent men from whom NTM were isolated from sputum were infected. This study should alert the clinician that NTM cause treatable pulmonary disease in immunocompetent men.