A Ten-Year Clinical Experience with Mycobacterium kansasii

¹ University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan

During a ten-year period 35 patients with pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium kansasii have undergone treatment and close clinical follow-up. There has been no evidence of bacteriologic, roentgenographic or clinical relapse in 31 of 35 patients (89 percent) on chemotherapy for a mean of 24.3 months. The clinical characteristics are similar to other reported series. Multiple drug regimens were used in a majority of the patients. Thirtyone patients were observed for a mean period of 27.2 months. Twenty-nine patients received medical therapy, and four received combined medical-surgical treatment. During the study period 6 of 33 patients died, with none of the deaths directly attributed to Myco kansasii infection or its treatment.