%0 Journal Article
%T A narrative review of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: microbiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management challenges.
%A Hamed KA
%A Tillotson G
%J Expert Rev Respir Med
%V 17
%N 11
%D 2023 Jul-Dec 14
%M 37962332
%F 4.3
%R 10.1080/17476348.2023.2283135
%X Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a diverse group of mycobacterial species that are ubiquitous in the environment. They are opportunistic pathogens that can cause a range of diseases, especially in individuals with underlying structural lung disease or compromised immune systems.<BR>This paper provides an in-depth analysis of NTM infections, including microbiology, environmental sources and transmission pathways, risk factors for disease, epidemiology, clinical manifestations and diagnostic approaches, guideline-based treatment recommendations, drugs under development, and management challenges.<BR>Future approaches to the management of NTM pulmonary disease will require therapies that are well tolerated, can be taken for a shorter time period and perhaps less frequently, have few drug-drug interactions, and are active against the various strains of pathogens. As the numbers of infections increase, such therapies will be welcomed by clinicians and patients.