Yan Chu,1,* Xiaomin Wang,2,* Min Dou,1 Jin Wang,2 Baoqian Wang,1 Hairong Wang,1 Shasha Lv,1 Shuihua Lu,2,* Tongxia Li1,* 

1Qingdao Chest Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Tongxia Li; Shuihua Lu, Email qdlitx@163.com; lushuihua66@126.com

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics, species distribution and drug resistance of patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease in Qingdao, China.
Methods: Clinical data of patients with NTM lung disease and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) treated at Qingdao Chest Hospital from July 2021 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: The prevalence of NTM lung disease was 8.03%, with a high rate of drug resistance during the study period. Patients with NTM lung disease had higher rates of older age, bronchiectasis, malignancy, HIV infection and bronchial dilatation shadow and lower rates of hollow shadow compared to patients with pulmonary TB.
Conclusion: Comprehensive understanding of NTM lung disease, improved laboratory testing techniques and appropriate treatment regimens are essential for the management of NTM lung disease.

Keywords: non-tuberculous mycobacteria, pulmonary tuberculosis, clinical characteristics, drug resistance