MYCOPLASMA-PNEUMONIAE AND MYCOPLASMA-GENITALIUM MIXTURE IN SYNOVIAL-FLUID ISOLATE

A mycoplasma cultured from synovial fluid specimens from a patient wit h pneumonia and subsequent polyarthritis was identified initially as M ycoplasma pneumoniae. In retrospective studies, the culture was shown also to contain Mycoplasma genitalium. In this paper, the laboratory t echniques employed in the identification and separation of the two spe cies are presented, and evidence to implicate postinfectious autoimmun ity is provided. An increasing number of reports of M. genitalium in h uman tissue sites and difficulties in isolation and identification of the organism in the clinical laboratory suggest the need for more exte nsive application of rapid and specific detection systems for both M. genitalium and M. pneumoniae in the clinical laboratory.