Kl. Riedinger et al., MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX INFECTION MIMICKING POTTS-DISEASE IN AN IMMUNOCOMPETENT ADULT, Infectious diseases in clinical practice, 7(5), 1998, pp. 246-247
Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) causes disseminated infection in pat
ients with AIDS but rarely affects immunocompetent hosts. Among adults
with underlying chronic lung disease, MAC causes indolent pulmonary i
nfections, whereas cervical lymphadenitis or, rarely, disseminated dis
ease affects otherwise healthy children [1]. Multifocal osteomyelitis
due to MAC has been reported in immunocompetent children [2-4], but un
ifocal osteomyelitis in the absence of penetrating trauma is extremely
rare. Igram et al. [5] recently described the case of a 39-year-old m
an with MAC-induced vertebral osteomyelitis whose illness was clinical
ly indistinguishable from M. tuberculosis-induced Pott's disease. We r
eport a case of MAC-induced vertebral osteomyelitis with late relapse
in an immunocompetent host.