Successful additional corticosteroid treatment in a patient with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in whom a monobacterial infection was confirmed by a molecular method using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Abstract

A 23-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to A hospital due to pneumonia. IgM for Mycoplasma pneumonia was positive, and the patient was treated with imipenem/cilastatin, clindamycin, pazufloxacin and minocycline. However, both the chest radiological findings and the symptoms became exacerbated, and she was therefore transferred to our hospital. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained, and a 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed a monobacterial infection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Therefore, corticosteroid treatment in addition to minocycline was administered, and the patients symptoms, laboratory data and chest radiographs improved. Corticosteroid therapy may therefore be considered for patients with refractory M. pneumoniae pneumonia.