Infection due to organisms of the Mycobacterium fortuitum complex after augmentation mammaplasty: clinical and epidemiologic features.

Periprosthetic infections due to Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium chelonei occurred in 17 women over a 3.5-year period after implantation of prostheses for breast augmentation. The median incubation period for 16 of the women was 28 days (range, one week to over two years) after surgery; etiologic diagnosis was usually delayed for weeks to months. Odorless and serosanguineous or purulent material was found when the implants were removed, and acid-fast bacilli were often present when smears were examined. Wound infections were chronic and refractory to therapy with various antimicrobial agents. Persistent or recurrent mycobacterial infections complicated attempts to implant new prostheses. Whereas M. fortuitum isolates were susceptible to amikacin, multiple strains of M. fortuitum were distinguished by conventional antituberculous and broth microdilution susceptibility tests. Several clusters of infections were temporally and geographically related; however, sporadic cases were also reported, and no evidence of a contaminated common product or other single source of infection was found.