Kansasii Infection Research Articles

Disseminated M. kansasii infection in a patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia.

Atypical mycobacteria are classified into four groups: Group I, the photochromogens, produce a yellow pigment on exposure to light; Group II, the scotochromogens, produce a yellow pigment in the dark; Group III, the nonchromogens, produce no pigment, and Group IV may or may not produce pigment but is characterized by rapid growth (“rapid growers”). All can produce disease in humans which is most frequently pulmonary but may affect lymph nodes, bone, meninges, and other organs. The clinical picture may be indistinguishable from disease caused by M. hominis. Disseminated disease is infrequent and we have been able to find only 21 such cases in the literature. A case of disseminated disease caused by M. kansasii, a Group I organism, in a patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia, is the object of this report. The clinical and laboratory features of these cases. are reviewed. Tuberculosis seems to occur more often in patients with CGL than in other leukemias. The pathophysiologic significance of the defective stem cell concept in the concurrence of these conditions is discussed.

Primary lymphopenic immunologic deficiency. Disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection.

A 7½-month-old boy with primary lymphopenic immunologic deficiency, disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia had a profound defect in lymphocytemediated immunity associated with a selective immunoglobulin deficiency. There was evidence of IgM and IgG antibody activity. Leukocyte phagocytic function was normal, but opsonin and total hemolytic complement activity was found to be markedly low. Disseminated atypical mycobacterial infection has been previously described in 27 cases. Altered host resistance has been postulated in the pathogenesis, but the present case is the first reported with documented immunologic deficiency. The immunopathology of this patient's mycobacterial infection is similar to that described in infants with fatal disseminated BCG infection.

Silicosis and Mycobacterium Kansasii Infection: Clinical Conference in Pulmonary Disease from Northwestern University Medical Center, Chicago

We have discussed the problems of a 66-year-old white man with presumed silicosis and Mycobacterium kansasii infection. Special emphasis was given to: 1. The role of co-existent atypical acid-fast infection in patients with silicosis. 2. The significance of pulmonary function data in making disability evaluations. 3. The importance of specific historic data in determining the presence and type of pneumoconiosis. 4. Some current industrial hygiene practices and problems of interest to chest physicians. 5. The distinction between pneumoconiosis and silicosis.

Carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to Mycobacterium kansasii infection

Carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to Mycobacterium kansasii infection

Mycobacterium kansasiiin East Kent : A report of seven pulmonary infections with an environmental study

Seven cases of lung infection by M. kansasii have been found in South-East Kent during 1963 to 1967. One patient has died. All were male cigarette smokers aged 44 years or more and 6 inhabited the port of Dover. Five had marked pre-existing pulmonary emphysema and one had pneumoconiosis. The epidemiology of M. kansasii infections is not understood. Although one of the 7 cases had pulmonary lesions of 14 years' duration and had a positive sputum for 4 years, he could not be incriminated as the source for 5 cases in the same town. M. kansasii could not be found in the environment, despite a wide search. Lung disease caused by M. kansasii resembles tuberculosis, with symptoms less severe than might be expected from its extent. It seems probable that many patients do not require treatment with drugs. Like most cases reported in the literature, 2 of the series recovered on chemotherapy which was ineffective in vitro . Three recovered without chemotherapy of any kind. Beyond persistence of the organism in the sputum, there were no features to distinguish patients likely to develop progressive disease requiring chemotherapy (cycloserine and ethionamide). It was noted that 2 men, more disabled than the others by pre-existing emphysema, were those whose infection was most difficult to control.

Chemotherapeutic Studies of Mycobacterial Infections in Mice

Of six antibiotics investigated, streptovaricin C had the most marked chemotherapeutic effect on Mycobacterium kansasii infections in mice. By the intraperitoneal route this antibiotic caused elimination of the pathogens from all organs. Kanamycin eliminated the pathogens from the lungs of all animals and from the spleens and livers of most of them. Bluensomycin also removed the pathogens from the lungs of all animals, and spectinomycin and lincomycin, from the lungs of the majority of the animals. The three latter antibiotics lowered the bacterial counts in liver and spleen. Streptovaricin C also decreased the bacterial counts in brain, spleen, and liver of mice inoculated intracerebrally with M. kansasii. In one experiment it completely eliminated this pathogen from the spleen and almost completely from the liver. The effect of streptovaricin C on the cerebral infection was more marked than that of streptovaricin complex. Respiratory and cerebral infections of mice with M. avium, serotypes I and II, were limited by streptovaricin C, and marked decreases of the bacterial counts in brain, lungs, spleen, and liver were observed.

ATYPICAL MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS

Infrequent and forgotten before the advent of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections are now often encountered, predominately in patients positive for the human immune deficiency virus (HIV). In non-AIDS patients, Mycobacterium kansasii, M. avium and M. xenopi are the most common causal agents of pulmonary mycobacterial infections. Nodes and skin diseases are less frequent. M. kansasii infections are treated for 12 months with a standard combination of rifampin, isoniazid and ethambutol. The treatment for M. xenopi and M. avium infections have not yet been standardized. The AIDS epidemia has modified the epidemiology of these disease and there has been a 10-fold increase in incidence. Disseminated M. avium infections occur in 15% of patients at end-stage AIDS. This new epidemia has triggered research leading to the discovery of new diagnostic procedure including blood culture media for mycobacteria, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and new active drugs. New active macrolides such as clarithromycine and azithromycine are active against M. avium and new rifampicin-related drugs such as rifabutine and new quinolones are under investigation.

Streptomycin and Friedländer's bacillus.

Thirty-five patients (88% male) with pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium kansasii have been reviewed. Sixty-six per cent had pre-existing lung disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema accounting for half of the disorders. Unilateral lesions were present in 69% of patients whose chest radiographs were reviewed and 90% had cavitating disease. The development of unilateral or bilateral disease appeared to be independent of any delay in starting treatment. Five patients died while receiving treatment, but none of these deaths was due to M kansasii infection. The remaining 30 patients were successfully treated with drug regimens, all of which included rifampicin and 86% of which included ethambutol. There was 100% sputum conversion, with no relapses after a mean follow-up period of five-and-a-half years. Rifampicin and ethambutol given for a mean period of 15 months appeared to be a non-toxic, effective combination.