2 Cases of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection with Severe Pneumonia.

Kim, Shin Tae; Lee, Shun Nyung; Lee, Seok Jeong; Jung, Pil Moon; Park, Hong Jun; Shin, Myung Sang; Kim, Chong Whan; Lee, Bu Ghil; Kim, Sang Ha; Lee, Won Yeon; Shin, Kye Chul; Yong, Suk Joong

doi:2007.63.6.515

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 63(6); 2007 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2007;63(6):515-520.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.63.6.515 Published online December 1, 2007.

2 Cases of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection with Severe Pneumonia.

Shin Tae Kim, Shun Nyung Lee, Seok Jeong Lee, Pil Moon Jung, Hong Jun Park, Myung Sang Shin, Chong Whan Kim, Bu Ghil Lee, Sang Ha Kim, Won Yeon Lee, Kye Chul Shin, Suk Joong Yong

Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea. sjyong@yonsei.ac.kr

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is the leading cause of pneumonia in older children and young adults. Normally, it does not progress to a condition requiring hospitalization but improves spontaneously or has a mild clinical course. We report two cases of M. pneumoniae pneumonia with different clinical manifestations from the normal course. The patients were young healthy individuals. The diagnoses were made by serology. However, it could not be determined beforehand that they had M. pneumoniae pneumonia. Based on the empirical treatment strategy of severe community acquired pneumonia, the patients were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics including cephalosporin, quinolone and macrolide. After administering the antibiotics, they showed a gradually favorable clinical course and recovered without residual complications. A M. pneumoniae infection should be considered as a cause of severe community acquired pneumonia, and empirical treatment targeting this organism might be helpful in treating patients with the severe manifestation.

Key Words: Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Severe pneumonia, Quinolone, Macrolide