Mycobacterium flavescens vertebral osteomyelitis in an immunocompetent host.

The aim of this paper is to describe a rare case of vertebral osteomyelitis caused by Mycobacterium flavescens in an immunocompetent patient. Mycobacterium flavescens is a rapidly growing, pigmented, non-tuberculous mycobacterium, usually described as non-pathogenic for humans but occasionally reported as the cause of serious infectious complications recognized in clinical practice. This study stressed the importance of recent reports that describe the occurrence of vertebral osteomyelitis due to non-tuberculous mycobacteria that have also been recognized with an increasing incidence among immunocompetent hosts. A brief review of the current literature on human disease caused by Mycobacterium flavescens is also reported.