LAUSR

Aim: To determine the peculiarities of CT patterns in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary mycobacterioses caused by slowly growing nontuberculous mycobacteria (M. avium, M. kansasii). Materials and methods: We studied 65 patients with pulmonary mycobacterioses aged 54.3±0.2 years. The disease duration was 4.2±0.3 years. In all the patients the diagnoses were microbiologically verified. The patients were divided in two groups. Group 1 included 48 patients with pulmonary mycobacteriosis caused by M. avium. Group 2 included 17 patients with pulmonary mycobacteriosis caused by M. kansasii. Results: 1. Patients with pulmonary mycobacterioses caused by slowly growing nontuberculous mycobacteria had varied radiological signs, such as bronchiectasis, cavities, focal and infiltrative changes in the lung tissue. 2. Bronchiectasis accompanying pulmonary mycobacterioses caused by slowly growing was found in 66% of patients infected with M. avium. Bronchiectasis had unilateral localization, oftener in the middle lobe of the right lung or the left lung lingulas. 3. The predominant sign of pulmonary mycobacteriosis caused by M. avium was injury of the bronchi and the surrounding lung tissue in 85.4% of patients. 4. The “triad” of radiological signs was found in 35.4% of patients infected with M. avium: bronchiectasis, focal dissemination and fibroatelectasis of the lung tissue; all spread to different degrees. 5. Radiological patterns in patients infected with M. kansasii were similar to those in pulmonary cavitary TB in 41.1% of cases, infiltrative TB – in 17.6% of cases, tuberculomas – in 17.6% of cases.