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Negative sputum results without treatment
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Dec 12, 2019 | Replies (103)Comment receiving replies
@windwalker
Terri
Yes I just got one a couple of weeks ago and will see my Pulmonologist in July for another one and a CT scan.
It was kinda low this last time but with me it's hard to tell what's what. I have asthma bronchectasis and some aspergillus showed up in last scope. I'm getting treated for the aspergillus with a anti fungal now. The asthma complicates things because I'm highly allergic to aspergillus.
With these studies on spontaneous conversion of MAC is sounds the younger and heavier you are the better.
Does anyone know any studies on people being treated for MAC with antibiotics and what percentage of those people get well and stay well?
My understanding is that it comes back a lot of the time but I'm not clear on what those percentages are.
But it is good news that around 50% spontaneously convert from MAC!
Shari
Replies to "@windwalker Terri Yes I just got one a couple of weeks ago and will see my..."
@pfist and everyone else.... I feel like eventually, most of us will test positive in the future; just because that is the nature of the beast (bronchiectasis). I have tested negative for mac since 2014, but I have been on maintenance antibiotics ever since then.
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@pfists. Great question Shari. I was told that percentages are low with a high probability of recurrence but no specific numbers were offered. I found one study which suggests a much higher rate of 82%? That seems really optimistic. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595680/
Here's another study that reported treatment success rates (not sure how defined) between 32% to 65% but also pointed out that certain factors contributed to high success rates. There is also mention of the spontaneous conversion rates I brought up in my original post. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6304322/
Hope this helps.
Mary