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Case Reports
. 2001 Feb;39(2):816-9.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.39.2.816-819.2001.

Fatal pulmonary infection due to multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus in a patient with cystic fibrosis

M Sanguinetti  1 , F Ardito, E Fiscarelli, M La Sorda, P D'Argenio, G Ricciotti, G Fadda
Affiliations
Case Reports

Fatal pulmonary infection due to multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus in a patient with cystic fibrosis

M Sanguinetti et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2001 Feb.

Abstract

We report a case of fatal pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium abscessus in a young patient with cystic fibrosis, who underwent bipulmonary transplantation after a 1-year history of severe lung disease. Fifteen days after surgery he developed septic fever with progressive deterioration in lung function. M. abscessus, initially isolated from a pleural fluid specimen, was then recovered from repeated blood samples, suggesting a disseminated nature of the mycobacterial disease. Drug susceptibility testing assay, performed on two sequential isolates of the microorganism, showed a pattern of multidrug resistance. Despite aggressive therapy with several antimycobacterial drugs, including clarithromycin, the infection persisted, and the patient died.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
M. abscessus isolate grown on Middlebrook 7H11 agar. The colony appears large, flat, rough, and wrinkled, findings consistent with one of the described M. abscessus morphotypes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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