Nasal infection due to Mycobacterium fortuitum

Mycobacterium fortuitum, a rapidly growing non-tuberculous atypical mycobacterium, is commonly found in soil and water. This organism generally causes skin, bone, and soft tissue infections following local trauma or surgical procedures, and in immunodeficient patients. The case reported here is, to our knowledge, the first published report of M. fortuitum nasal infection.

The authors report the case of a 3-year-old girl with intranasal tumour-like swelling associated with cervical lymph nodes due to M. fortuitum infection.

A combination of radical surgical debridement and prolonged therapy with several antimicrobial agents was required to completely eradicate the infection. This case report indicates that non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections should be considered after failure of conventional antibiotic therapy or when classical microbiological tests fail to identify the pathogen responsible for sinonasal and cervical infections.