The First Case Report of Inactive Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Disease (NTM-PD) in a Pneumoconiosis Patient Caused by Mycobacterium europaeum in China

Abstract

We reported a 51-year-old male electric welder with stage I pneumoconiosis, who had no significant cough, sputum, fever, chest pain, or other discomfort. However, regular physical examination at our hospital revealed bilateral pulmonary nodules with cavity formation. Blood routine, liver or kidney function, and infection-related biomarkers, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT), were normal. Sputum and alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smears, BALF Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) PCR, and T-SPOT.TB were negative. The nucleic acid sequence of Mycobacterium europaeum was detected by BALF metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), which was confirmed by the subsequent positive culture for NTM. Considering stable conditions, no significant discomfort, and no significant changes in the lung lesion, the patient was diagnosed with inactive nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD).

Keywords:

• pneumoconiosis
• nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease
• NTM-PD
• Mycobacterium europaeum
• metagenomic next-generation sequencing
• mNGS

Ethical Approval

This case was approved by the Ethics Committee of West China Fourth Hospital (Grant No. HXSY-EC-2024022) for publication. Patient provided written informed consent to publish details of this case.

Consent to Publish

All authors confirm that they had full access to all the data in the study and accept responsibility to submit for publication. The patient gave consent to publication.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province, China (Grant No. 2023NSFSC0649).