Mycobacterium gordonae: A Treatable Disease in HIV-Positive Patients – Results (1)

We evaluated 15 HIV-negative patients with respiratory secretions positive for M gordonae; no patient had active disease attributable to the organism and therefore specific treatment was not given. The nine radiographic abnormalities could be explained by the underlying disease. Patients 7 and 8 had been treated with medication with potential antituberculosis activity; but the underlying pulmonary disease accounted for all abnormalities (Table 1). There were no positive cultures from extrapulmonary sites. Twelve of those 15 patients had follow-up within the next 12 months and there were no recurrent positive cultures.
The HIV-positive group included 17 patients with AIDS and 4 who did not meet the definition of AIDS (Table 2). Eleven were homosexuals, 8 were intravenous drug users (IVDU), 1 was a homosexual IVDU, and 1 had no known risk factor. Eighteen were male and 3 were female; 11 were white, 3 were black, and 7 were Hispanic. The mean age was 39 years with a range from 26 to 52 years. All HIV-positive patients presented with respiratory symptoms of more than 2 weeks’ duration. Twenty of 21 had fever (except patient 3 in Table 2). The mean CD4+ lymphocyte count of 8 patients was 53 x 10VL (range, 3 to 206 x lOVL).

Table 1—Mycobacterium gordonae in ШУ-Negative Patients

Table 2—Mycobacterium gordonae in HIV-Positive Patients

Category: Mycobacterium gordonae

Tags: antituberculosis, hiv-positive patients, mycobacterium, pneumonia, tuberculosis