PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Stephanie d'Incau AU - Maria-Isabel Vargas AU - Alexandra Calmy AU - Jean-Paul Janssens TI - <em>Mycobaterium fortuitum</em> disseminated infection in an immunocompetent patient without predisposing factors AID - 10.1136/bcr-2020-235842 DP - 2020 Sep 01 TA - BMJ Case Reports PG - e235842 VI - 13 IP - 9 4099 - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/9/e235842.short 4100 - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/9/e235842.full SO - BMJ Case Reports2020 Sep 01; 13 AB - Most Mycobacterium fortuitum infections described involve direct inoculation through skin lesions. We describe the case of a patient without risk factors who presented with an intracranial mass and a pulmonary infection with M. fortuitum. As M. fortuitum are rarely pathogens, there is little knowledge about the optimal treatment and outcome of such infections: what is the best mode of administration, what is the best therapy duration and is surgery always required are some of the unanswered questions. In our patient, surgical removal of the mass associated with a 1-year antimycobacterial therapy led to a full recovery. Even though M. fortuitum was rapidly identified in sputum, it was initially considered non-pathogenic and the definitive diagnosis required almost 6 weeks of investigations. New molecular techniques will probably lead to more identifications of M. fortuitum in the next few years and a better knowledge of their possible pathogenicity and optimal treatment.