MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX INFECTION MIMICKING POTTS-DISEASE IN AN IMMUNOCOMPETENT ADULT

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.