Tenosynovitis caused by a novel nontuberculous mycobacterium species initially misidentified as a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Abstract

We present a case of tenosynovitis caused by a novel, slowly growing, nonchromogenic, nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM). Originally misidentified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, the NTM cross-reacts with the M. tuberculosis complex nucleic acid hybridization probe, a M. tuberculosis gamma interferon release assay, and is closely related to M. tuberculosis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.