Life SciencesMicrobiologyPathologyBacteriologyDiagnostic MicrobiologyMedical MicrobiologyBacterial InfectionsBacterial PathologyClinical BacteriologyMedical BacteriologyPulmonary TuberculosisTuberculosis CareAutopsy Findings CorrelationMacroscopic Autopsy FindingsMicroscopic Autopsy FindingsMycobacterial DiagnosisMycobacterial DiseaseMycobacterium Tuberculosis InfectionNontuberculous Mycobacterial InfectionsTuberculosis Pathology
M YCOBACTERIUM FORTUITUM Cruz, 1 a rapidly growing acid-fast bacillus, has been studied extensively by Gordon and Smith, 2 Kushner, McMillen and Senderi, 3 and Gordon and Mihm. 4 It has been placed in Group 4 of Runyon's arbitrary separation of the atypical mycobacteria from human sources. An account of a case is in the literature, 5 but a review fails to reveal a case in which this organism was believed to result in death. The following report of a case with autopsy findings is offered as evidence of the grave role this mycobacterium may assume under favorable conditions. Report of a Case A 51-year-old tuberculin-positive male was referred to the state tuberculosis hospital for treatment on Feb. 8, 1951. Pulmonary pathology had been discovered earlier when the patient was prepared for an esophagoplasty to relieve cardiospasm. In retrospect the association of achalasia with Group-4 mycobacterial infection is recognized, 6
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