[Disease progression of Mycobacterium avium pulmonary infection and the mycobacterial variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing].

The disease progression of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary infection is variable, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between patients who require immediate therapy and those in whom such a decision can be withheld. Here we show that the progression of NTM lung disease due to Mycobacterium avium infection is significantly associated with the mycobacterial genotype. This suggests that genotyping of M. avium isolates may enable us to predict whether the lung disease will progress or not.