[Pulmonary infection due to Mycobacterium malmoense]

M. malmoense could be cultivated in sputum samples of a 49-year-old patient with destructive pulmonary disease. The conventional antituberculous therapy (started because initially a presumptive diagnosis of tuberculosis was established) was altered to ethambutol, rifabutin, clarithromycin and ciprofloxacin, followed by a long-time therapy with azithromycin or clarithromycin. But till now it was not possible to eradicate the mycobacteria from the respiratory tract (insufficient compliance, interruptions of the therapy due to side effects, excessive smoking). Infections due to M. malmoense are rare events. Many patients have disposing underlying diseases. In most cases it is a pulmonary infection. The most frequent used antibiotics are rifampicin (or rifabutin), ethambutol and clarithromycin.