• Tavs Qvist, Marita Gilljam, Bodil Jönsson, David Taylor-Robinson, Søren Jensen-Fangel, Mikala Wang, Anita Svahn, Karsten Kötz, Lennart Hansson, Annika Hollsing, Christine R Hansen, Pål L Finstad, Tania Pressler, Niels Høiby, Terese L Katzenstein, and Scandinavian Cystic Fibrosis Study Consortium (SCFSC).
• Copenhagen CF Center, Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Electronic address: tavs.qvist@gmail.com.
• J. Cyst. Fibros. 2015 Jan 1; 14 (1): 46-52.

BackgroundNontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are an emerging threat to cystic fibrosis (CF) patients but their epidemiology is not well described.MethodsIn this retrospective observational study we identified all Scandinavian CF patients with a positive NTM culture from airway secretions from 2000 to the end of 2012 and used national CF databases to describe microbiological and clinical characteristics.ResultsDuring the 13-year period 157 (11%) CF patients were culture positive for NTM at least once. Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABSC) (45%) and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) (32%) were the predominant species with geographical differences in distribution. Younger patients were more prone to MABSC (p<0.01). Despite treatment, less than one-third of MABSC patients with repeated positive cultures cleared their infection and a quarter had a lung transplant or died.ConclusionNTM are significant CF pathogens and are becoming more prevalent in Scandinavia. MABSC and MAC appear to target distinct patient groups. Having multiple positive cultures despite treatment conveys a poor outcome.Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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