Vol.73 No.1 January 2025
A case of a patient with nontuberculous mycobacteriosis in whom antituberculosis drug treatment could be continued with outpatient desensitization therapy
1)Department of Pharmacy, Kochi Prefectural Aki General Hospital, 3-33 Houeicho, Aki city, Kochi, Japan
2)Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kochi Prefectural Aki General Hospital
Abstract
A 72-year-old woman with nontuberculous mycobacteriosis (NTM) (Mycobacterium intracellulare) who had been receiving treatment with clarithromycin (CAM) 400 mg twice a day, ethambutol (EB) 750 mg once a day, and rifampicin (RFP) 300 mg twice a day developed an allergic skin rash accompanied by an increase in the peripheral blood eosinophil count four months after the start of treatment. We discontinued the treatment, but as the drug options available for the treatment of NTM are limited, we performed desensitization therapy in the outpatient setting with a modified schedule of CAM, EB, and RFP. First, she was desensitized with RFP and EB, and when the prescribed doses of these drugs were reached, CAM desensitization therapy was performed. During the course of treatment, the prescribed doses of all three drugs were reached without an increase of the eosinophil count or development of an allergic skin rash, and the antituberculosis treatment for NTM could be continued. These results suggest that desensitization therapy for NTM is feasible on an outpatient basis.
Key word
desensitization therapy, nontuberculous mycobacteriosis, EB, RFP, CAM
Received
April 26, 2024
Accepted
September 10, 2024
Jpn. J. Chemother. 73 (1): 1-6, 2025
