Treatment of slowly growing mycobacteria.

The most common nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung pathogen, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), requires antibiotic treatment regimens that are long and often arduous. M kansasii is the slowly growing NTM pathogen with the most predictably successful treatment outcomes, whereas other slowly growing NTM pathogens such as M xeonpi, M szulgai, and M malmoense are less predictably responsive to antibiotic regimens. M simiae is the most difficult of the common slowly growing NTM pathogens to eradicate. Surgical intervention for slowly growing mycobacterial lung infection has proved beneficial for some patients, but the optimal candidates and timing for surgical intervention remain unknown.