Examining the Effect of Residual Amikacin on Sputum Culture for Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

Liposomal amikacin for inhalation (LAI) is a novel, once-daily formulation of amikacin in development for the treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) lung disease in adults who remain sputum culture-positive despite guidelines-based therapy (1, 2). The efficacy and safety of LAI once daily were investigated in a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with treatment-refractory NTM lung disease (2). [...]this finding is important for clinicians because sputum culture results guide the overall duration of treatment, which is recommended to be 12 months of continued multiantibiotic treatment after culture conversion (3).