Treatment outcomes of macrolide-susceptible Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease.

Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease is difficult to treat due to inducible resistance to macrolides. However, 15%-20% of isolates are macrolide susceptible. In 14 patients with macrolide-susceptible M. abscessus lung disease, all isolates had nonfunctional erm(41) gene, and sputum culture conversion rate was achieved in 93% (13/14) following antibiotic therapy.