Cutaneous Mycobacterium kansasii infection-treatment with erythromycin

Abstract

A 20-year-old woman developed cutaneous Mycobacterium kansasii infection following steroid infiltration of two plaques of lichen simplex. The organism was resistant to many standard antituberculous drugs and following sensitivity studies treatment with erythromycin was begun. This has been effective and well tolerated. Treatment of atypical mycobacteria with drugs not traditionally associated with antituberculous activity is being increasingly reported and, so far, resistance has not been a problem. Erythromycin has good tissue penetration with excellent activity against M. kansasii and should be considered in the therapy of similar cases.

Primary Cutaneous Mycobacterium kansasii Infection in a Child

“…Addition of a fourth drug such as clarithromycin or azithromycin has been proposed (35). However, other authors have had success with single therapy using minocycline (7) or erythromycin (13) for several months in immunocompetent patients. Surgical excision has been performed in a single patient (20), with recurrence of the lesion.…”

“…Cutaneous infection by M. kansasii is rare. To our knowledge, 45 patients have been described, with ages ranging from 16 to 84 years (6–33). In 72% of those cases, an immunologic disorder resulting from chemotherapy, autoimmune disease, AIDS, renal or cardiac transplantation, or other predisposing factors (14) was identified.…”

“…Cutaneous M. kansasii infections are rare. The first case was described by Mayberry et al (6) in 1965, and an additional 44 cases have been reported since then (7–33). Furthermore, none of these patients with cutaneous M. kansasii infection were children.…”