Abstract: Objective To study the clinical characterisitcs of community-acquired rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterium(RNTM)pulmonary disease.Methods 58 cases with RNTM pulmonary disease,diagnosed through identification of mycobacterium strains and isolated from 3.901 sputum culture positive cases,were retrospectived from Jan.1986 to Dec.1997.Results According to Runyon classification,there were 38 cases with M.Fortuitumin and 20 cases with M.Chelonae in type Ⅳ,39 cases in male and 17 in female.The main clinical symptoms included cough,expectoration with white mucous sputum,haemoptysis and fever,60.3% cases in X-ray chest film were seen lesions bilaterally,24.1% in left side and 15.5% in the right.The resistant rates were high to isoniazid,streptomycin,ethambutol,sodium paraaminosalicylate and prothionamide,while lower to kanamycin and comparatively.The sputum negative conversion was 31%.Conclusion The RNTM pulmonary disease was characterized by long course,nonspecific symptoms,high resistant rate and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy.

Key words: Mycobacterium, nontuberculous Lung, disease, Clinical studies