Usefulness of gastric aspirates for diagnosing nontuberculous mycobacteriosis

Distinguishing between nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is difficult. We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of gastric aspirate examination for NTM-PD diagnosis and for differentiating NTM-PD from other diseases, including pulmonary TB. We retrospectively collected data for 491 patients with negative sputum smears or a lack of sputum production at Fukujuji Hospital. We compared 31 patients with NTM-PD to 218 patients with other diseases (excluding 203 with pulmonary TB). Additionally, we compared 81 patients with NTM cultured from at least one sputum or bronchoscopy sample to the other 410 patients. Gastric aspirate examination for NTM-PD diagnosis showed 74.2% sensitivity and 99.0% specificity for culture positivity. There was no significant difference between the nodular bronchiectatic disease and cavitary disease types for culture positivity (p = 0.515). The significance of NTM isolation from gastric aspirate showed 64.2% sensitivity and 99.8% specificity for culture positivity. Gastric aspirate examination revealed NTM in one TB patient, allowing TB to be ruled out in 98.1% of patients with NTM cultured from gastric aspirates. Gastric aspirate examination is helpful for early-stage NTM diagnosis and ruling out pulmonary TB. This could lead to more accurate and timely treatment.