[A case of pulmonary Mycobacterium gordonae infection diagnosed by gastric juice culture and successfully treated with multidrug chemotherapy].

In September 2008, a 60-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a complaint of bloody sputum; she was healthy until this event. Chest computed tomography scan revealed a cavity, nodular shadows, and bronchiectasis in the left upper lobe and in the left and right middle lobes. Acid-fast bacilli were detected 2 times on gastric juice culture and Mycobacterium gordonae was identified on biochemical study. No active chemotherapy was administered because the discharge of this strain was considered casual and clinically nonsignificant. However, her radiological findings worsened in the following 1 year and 3 months, and M. gordonae was detected 2 more times on gastric juice culture. Subsequently, she was diagnosed with pulmonary mycobacteriosis caused by M. gordonae and was treated with clarithromycin, rifampicin, and levofloxacin. After 1 month, her gastric juice culture yielded negative results for M. gordonae, and after a year and a half, her radiological findings improved. In this case, gastric juice culture was as useful as sputum examination for diagnosis and evaluation of the disease. Although M. gordonae is usually considered nonpathogenic, our study shows that it can be pathogenic, and M. gordonae infection may require treatment with chemotherapy.