[Sporotrichoid atypical mycobacterial infections. Antibiotic monotherapy].

Sporotrichoid forms of atypical mycobacterial infections usually do not show a tendency to spontaneous healing. The therapy of choice in such cases is systemic antibiotics. We report three cases of sporotrichoid atypical mycobacterial infections of the skin which healed completely under long-term monotherapy with modern antibiotics (levofloxacin, clarithromycin, minocycline). We recommend confirming the diagnosis by means of culture, followed by monotherapy with low side-effect antibiotics, based on sensitivity studies. If pathogen proof is obtained by PCR, antibiotic therapy should be based on the known sensitivity of the pathogen in question.