ArticleEuropean radiology2025
Evaluation of treatment response with serial CT in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease.
Article in European radiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differentiation of Lung Malignancy from Benign Lesions in Patients with Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection: A Retrospective Analysis of Biopsy-Proven Cases.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring lung microbiota and clinical application of BALF-mNGS in patients with pulmonary mycobacterial diseases: a multicenter retrospective study.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Successful treatment ofRespiratory medicine case reports · 2026Article
- Deep learning-based differentiation of non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease and pulmonary tuberculosis using chest CT.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Developing a Simple Scoring System on CT Findings for Predicting Treatment Failure inOpen forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
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10 authors.
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Abstract
objectivesIn patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), the response to treatment is evaluated based on microbiological, clinical, and radiological data. However, little is known about the dynamics of CT findings. The aim of this study was to evaluate CT changes in NTM-PD in order to define radiological criteria for treatment success.
methodsRetrospective multicenter study (Hannover, Heidelberg, Gauting). Sixty patients with NTM-PD and at least two consecutive CT scans were included. Scoring for NTM-PD was performed by evaluating variables of bronchiectasis, mucus plugging, bronchiolitis, cavities, nodules, and consolidations on an ordinal scale from 0 to 3. Differences between baseline and follow-up were calculated, and patients with/without cultural conversion were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test. For paired comparison of the two consecutive CT scans the Wilcoxon test was used.
resultsComparing patients with and without culture conversion, there were significant differences in temporal changes of bronchiectasis (p < 0.001), cavities (p = 0.006), bronchiolitis (p < 0.001), consolidations (p = 0.004), and total score (p < 0.001). Nodules showed no significant differences between groups (p = 0.060). The Wilcoxon test showed significant differences between both CTs in patients with a microbiological cure for the total score (p < 0.001), cavities (p = 0.005), bronchiolitis (p < 0.001), and consolidations (p = 0.021) with a decrease after microbiological cure, whereas bronchiectasis (p = 0.102) and nodules (p = 0.18) stayed stable. In the case of persistently positive cultures, there was an increase in the total score (p = 0.010) which was attributable to progressive bronchiectasis (p < 0.001).
conclusionCavities, consolidations, and bronchiolitis are useful to assess treatment response, whereas bronchiectasis and nodules may remain stable despite successful treatment. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Cavities, consolidations, and bronchiolitis can assess treatment response whereas bronchiectasis and nodules may remain stable despite successful treatment. In persistently positive cultures, bronchiectasis showed an increase over time indicating that NTM-PD is a progressive chronic disease. KEY POINTS: Little is known about CT changes in nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) and criteria to evaluate treatment response. In the case of culture conversion, cavities and bronchiolitis decreased whereas bronchiectasis and nodules remained stable. Cavities and bronchiolitis can evaluate treatment response in NTM, but bronchiectasis and nodules may persist despite successful treatment.
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