Soft tissue infection caused by Mycolicibacter kumamotonensis

Mycolicibacter kumamotonensis (M. kumamotonensis), formerly Mycobacterium kumamotonense, is a nontuberculous mycobacteria species, which was first separated from Mycobacterium terrae complex in 2006. Reports about infections caused by M. kumamotonensis are extremely rare, with most of them being lung infection. Here, we report the case of a 68-year-old man with a hobby of gardening who developed swelling in his right middle finger. He underwent surgical debridement at a previous hospital and was diagnosed with nontuberculous mycobacteria infection based on positive findings of acid-fast staining of pus obtained from the surgical specimen. He was treated with rifampicin, ethambutol, and clarithromycin, but the swelling worsened. Therefore, he was referred to our hospital for further examination and treatment. We performed a second debridement and added isoniazid to the treatment regimen, but the swelling continued to worsen. We then administered levofloxacin, but his condition did not change. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and DNA sequencing analysis confirmed M. kumamotonensis as the causative bacterium. Since the finger swelling did not improve, the patient underwent a third debridement and amikacin was added to the treatment regimen. Finally, the infection was controlled. He completed amikacin therapy and will continue treatment with the other five antibiotics for a total of 24 months. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with M. kumamotonensis soft tissue infection. We consider this case might provide important insights into the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue infections caused by M. kumamotonensis.