Characteristics | ATS+ (n = 53) | ATS− (n = 159) | Total (n = 212) |
Demography | |||
Male | 37 (70) | 95 (60) | 132 (62) |
Mean age (years) | 57 | 61 | 60 |
Dutch origin | 48 (91) | 145 (91) | 193 (91) |
Predisposing conditions | |||
Pre-existing pulmonary disease | 37 (70) | 125 (79) | 162 (76) |
COPD | 23 (43) | 80 (50) | 103 (49) |
Lung cancer | 4 (8) | 17 (11) | 21 (10) |
Healed tuberculosis | 6 (11) | 22 (14) | 28 (13) |
Previous pulmonary NTM disease | 4 (8) | 0 | 4 (2) |
Asthma | 4 (8) | 21 (13) | 25 (12) |
Bronchiectasis | 8 (15) | 8 (5) | 16 (8) |
Current or past smoker | 35 (66) | 94 (59) | 129 (61) |
Alcohol abuse | 8 (15) | 16 (10) | 24 (11) |
High-dose steroid use* | 2 (4) | 6 (4) | 8 (4) |
HIV infection | 6 (11) | 7 (4) | 13 (6) |
Haematological malignancy | 1 (2) | 4 (3) | 5 (2) |
Anti-TNF treatment | 1 (2) | 1 (1) | 2 (1) |
Otherwise impaired immunity | 3† | 3‡ | 6 |
Symptoms | |||
Productive cough | 40 (75) | 126 (79) | 166 (78) |
Haemoptysis | 10 (19) | 28 (18) | 38 (18) |
Dyspnoea | 29 (55) | 85 (54) | 114 (54) |
Fever | 19 (36)§ | 30 (19) | 49 (23) |
Night sweats | 7 (13) | 16 (10) | 23 (11) |
Weight loss | 14 (26) | 29 (18) | 43 (20) |
Fatigue | 28 (53)¶ | 37 (23) | 65 (31) |
Chest radiograph features | |||
Air-space opacities | 22 (42) | 42 (26) | 64 (30) |
Cavity | 15 (28) | 2 (1) | 17 (8) |
Nodules | 4 (8) | 2 (1) | 6 (3) |
Bronchiectasis | 4 (8) | 5 (3) | 9 (4) |
Emphysema | 14 (26) | 23 (15) | 37 (17) |
Microbiology | |||
Mean number of cultures performed | 4.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
Mean number of positive cultures | 2.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
AFB smear positive | 26 (49)** | 6 (4) | 32 (15) |
Results are shown as n (%) unless stated otherwise.
*>15 mg prednisone/day for >3 months before primary NTM culture; †anorexia nervosa, lymphopenia and complement C4 deficiency, diabetes mellitus (all n = 1); ‡intravenous drug abuse (n = 2), azathioprine use (n = 1); §p = 0.014, OR = 2.422, 95% CI 1.179 to 4.978; ¶p<0.001, OR = 3.477, 95% CI 1.721 to 7.024; **p<0.001, OR = 23.583, 95% CI 8.777 to 63.125.
AFB, acid-fast bacillus; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.