Monday’s Pulmonary NTM infections: Which Patients to Treat, Which Patients to Refer? session will update general pulmonologists about how to assess, and potentially treat, patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infections—an increasingly prevalent condition.
“Some of these NTM infection patients are quite straightforward, so the pulmonologist should be able to take care of them, but some require expert consultation with either a center that deals with NTM or in collaboration with infectious disease physicians,” said Anne E. O’Donnell, MD, FCCP, chair of the session, which will take place Monday at 3:15 pm in room 277 of the convention center. “The point of this session is to make the attendees comfortable with diagnosing the disease and potentially treating it if it’s fairly straightforward, and then referring the patients if they’re too complex.”
Dr. O’Donnell, with Georgetown University Medical Center, said these patients typically present with cough, mucus production, occasional weight loss, a low-grade fever, night sweats, and fatigue. They’re commonly older, middle-aged to older females, although it can happen in younger people, and it can happen in men. The diagnosis is made with a CT scan of the chest and with cultures of the sputum. Some of the organisms that cause the infection can be difficult to treat, Dr. O’Donnell noted, particularly if they have mycobacterium abscessus infection.
The session’s presenters come from a variety of backgrounds, which will help attendees get different perspectives of treating and referring.
Dr. O’Donnell will kick off the session with “Newly Diagnosed Fibronodular MAC Infection,” followed by Kevin M. O’Neil, MD, MHA, FCCP, of Wilmington Health Pulmonary and Allergy, who will present the second case, “Fibrocavitary MAC Infection, Patient Intolerant of Standard Regimen.” Dr. O’Neil is a general pulmonologist and will provide the local/community side. Julie Philley, MD, with UT Health Science Center at Tyler, a center that specializes in NTM, will present “Mycobacterium Abscessus Infection With Minimal Symptoms.”
“We’re going to play off of each other in terms of the local pulmonologist and the expert pulmonologist when it comes to who the local community pulmonologists should be comfortable treating and who might need to be referred to the expert,” Dr. O’Donnell said.
Dr. O’Donnell hopes attendees will come away from the session being able to diagnose or recognize patients with NTM and to understand the treatment options.
“And of course our session’s title is the point we wish to make,” she said. “I hope attendees will come away knowing who they can treat and who they should refer.”
“Some of these NTM infection patients are quite straightforward, so the pulmonologist should be able to take care of them, but some require expert consultation with either a center that deals with NTM or in collaboration with infectious disease physicians. The point of this session is to make the attendees comfortable with diagnosing the disease and potentially treating it if it’s fairly straightforward, and then referring the patients if they’re too complex.”
Anne E. O’Donnell, MD, FCCP