Mycobacterium abscessus

Question

Hi, My daughter is 13 years old, recently she has Mycobaterium abscessus and her PFT drop drameticly from 111% to 66% - 62% and now she only have 52%. Does anyone have already experience in this field??? She is on Amukin and Biclar treatment.

Answer

Hello Questioner

I hope the following answers your question. Mycobaterium absessus is a relatively uncommon bacteria cultured in CF however the incidence is increasing and there have recently been American guidelines published for the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial infections. These guidelines have a section specifically on the management of Mycobaterium absessus which your CF team can refer to when deciding on the optimal management for your daughter. These guidelines outline the drug treatment used to help control symptoms and progression of M. abscessus lung disease (that try to maintain lung function). Mycobaterium absessus can be difficult to treat and the current drug therapy usually includes combination of antibiotics such as amikacin plus cefoxitin or imipenem for 2 to 4 months or until clinical improvement. Your CF team will decide on the most appropriate drug regime for your daughter. Some of the antibiotic regimes used can have side effects and so it is important that your CF team decides on the most effective regime for your daughter and also monitors her response. There are a number of new drug therapies which are currently being investigated as potential alternatives for the management of Mycobaterium absessus but these are not available for use in patients yet.
I hope this information helps you

Best wishes

Stuart
An Official ATS/IDSA Statement: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Diseases American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 175. pp. 367-416, (2007)David E. Griffith, Timothy Aksamit, Barbara A. Brown-Elliott, Antonino Catanzaro, Charles Daley, Fred Gordin, Steven M. Holland, Robert Horsburgh, Gwen Huitt, Michael F. Iademarco, Michael Iseman, Kenneth Olivier, Stephen Ruoss, C. Fordham von Reyn, Richard J. Wallace, Jr., Kevin Winthrop on behalf of the ATS Mycobacterial Diseases Subcommittee
THIS OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY (ATS) AND THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA (IDSA) WAS ADOPTED BY THE ATS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SEPTEMBER 2006, AND BY THE IDSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS, JANUARY 2007

02.10.2008

The answer is edited by: Prof Stuart Elborn