Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients who were newly diagnosed with pulmonary NTM disease (n = 225).
Table 2.
Cause of death in patients with pulmonary NTM disease (n = 61).
Table 3.
Mortality in patients with pulmonary NTM disease.
Fig 1.
Cumulative incidence of NTM-related death and all-cause death in RA and non-RA patients.
Using the CIF, the cumulative incidence of NTM-related death (A) and all-cause death (B) in patients who were newly given a diagnosis of pulmonary NTM disease is shown in the RA and non-RA groups. Numbers below these figures represent the number of patients at risk. The cumulative incidence of death over time between both groups was compared using Gray’s test. According to univariate Fine-Gray analyses, the unadjusted HR (95% CI) of RA versus non-RA was 0.86 (0.38–1.98, p = 0.73) for NTM-related death and 1.34 (0.75–2.40, p = 0.32) for all-cause death. RA, rheumatoid arthritis; NTM, nontuberculous mycobacterial disease; CIF, cumulative incidence function; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval.
Fig 2.
HRCT scans of a patient with the cavitary NB form (case 5).
(A) An HRCT scan taken at the time of diagnosis of pulmonary NTM disease. Nodules and ground-glass opacities are evident in both lungs. Consolidation is evident in the right middle lobe (S4). In addition, bronchiectasis, the tree-in-bud sign, and cavitary lesions are evident in the lingular segment of the left upper lobe (S4). (B) An HRCT scan taken 8 months before the patient died. Extensive nodular opacities are evident in both lungs. Bronchiectasis, the tree-in-bud sign, and cavitary lesions are prominent in the right middle lobe, the lingular, and the left lower lobe.
Table 4.
Characteristics of RA patients who were newly diagnosed with pulmonary NTM disease and eventually died during follow-up.
Fig 3.
Cumulative incidence of NTM-related death grouped by predictive factors.
Using the CIF, the cumulative incidence of NTM-related death in patients who were newly diagnosed with pulmonary NTM disease is shown grouped according to predictive factors for death. Predictive factors included (A) age (≥80 years and 70–80 years vs. <70 years), (B) sex (male vs. female), (C) NTM species (M. abscessus complex [Mab] and M. intracellulare vs. M. avium), and (D) HRCT patterns (cavitary NB/fibrocavitary form and unclassifiable form vs. non-cavitary NB form). Numbers below these figures represent the number of patients at risk. The cumulative incidence of death over time between groups with and without predictive factors was compared using Gray’s test with or without the post hoc Holm’s procedure. NTM, nontuberculous mycobacterial disease; Mab, M. abscessus complex; NB, nodular bronchiectatic form; FC form, fibrocavitary form; CIF, cumulative incidence function.
Table 5.
Comparisons of mortality estimates over time between patient groups classified according to each predictor variable.
Table 6.
Predictive factors for mortality in patients with pulmonary NTM disease.