Bronchoscopy – may be necessary in some cases (especially if you can not cough up sputum) but not all, and involves putting a tube down into your lungs to obtain specimens for culture.

Your specimen coughed from your lungs is examined under a microscope (AFB smear) and also placed on special media to grow mycobacteria (AFB culture).

Sputum culture – several sputum cultures are usually performed.

High resolution CT scan (HRCT) (similar to an x-ray but a more detailed picture).

Chest x-ray (a picture of your lungs internally).

Rarely coughing up blood (hemoptysis is the medical term).

Severe fatigue or tiredness with inability to perform daily tasks.

Loss of appetite (anorexia is the medical term) weight loss.

Cough, sputum production, shortness of breath.

Medical history with records of symptoms:.

Diagnosis of MAC lung disease usually requires:.

Women are more likely to have non-cavitary, nodular MAC.

Men are more likely to have cavitary MAC (holes in their lungs).

The average age of patients with MAC lung disease in men is 55 years and 67 years in women.

Disease in men commonly relates to smoking while disease in women (non-smoking) usually relates to bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis is a breathing tube (bronchial) disorder characterized by excessive mucus production, cough, and susceptibility to certain infections such as MAC or infection caused by bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Damaged lung tissue can result from previous TB, heavy smoking, and a breathing tube disease called bronchiectasis.

Scientists and physicians who have studied MAC believe people who develop MAC lung disease become infected because of a defect in the structure or function of their lungs (especially a disease called bronchiectasis) or in their immune systems.

MAC Lung Disease is acquired from the environment (soil, air, natural waters, tap water, etc.).

MAC lung disease seen in HIV negative (non-AIDS) patients is a chronic lung infection and early-on is often misdiagnosed as chronic bronchitis or recurrent pneumonia.

MAC is not spread person to person like Mtb.

NTM includes a number of different species, but the most common one causing chronic lung disease is MAC.

Related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) but it is not TB (tuberculosis).

NTM includes all types or species of mycobacteria (including MAC) other than the germ of tuberculosis (TB).

Formerly known as “atypical mycobacteria”, “atypical TB”, or “atypical AFB” and currently as “nontuberculous mycobacteria” or “NTM”.

WHAT IS MAC (MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX) AND HOW IS IT DIAGNOSED AND TREATED?

Side effects of parallel on mac