Mycobacterium fortuitum in systemic lupus erythematosus

When she was five years old, this patient - aged 20 time of death - had had two diagnoses: Leri-Weill's disease and SLE. The latter led to uninterrupted use of systemic corticosteroids. Twelve months before death, multiple purulent bursitis were followed by cutaneous nodules. From the latter, but not from the former, Mycobacterium fortuitum was isolated. Our case is in agreement with what is generally accepted: this saprophyte organism becomes pathogenic in disseminated infections, only if the immune system deteriorates.