Kinetics of mycolactone in human subcutaneous tissue during antibiotic therapy for Mycobacterium ulcerans disease

Table 1 Demographic, diagnostic and clinical data of study participants

Characteristic	Form of M. ulcerans lesion
Characteristic	Nodule n = 18	Plaque n = 14	Oedema n = 4	Ulcer n = 44	Total n = 80
Male: Female	12:6	5:9	2:2	22:22	41:39
Median (range) age	13.5 (5-48)	12 (5-70)	16 (7-55)	16 (5-59)	14 (5-70)
Lesion category
Category 1(< 5 cm)	18	10	0	22	50
Category 2 (5-15 cm)	0	4	2	17	23
Category 3 (> 15 cm)	0	0	2	5	7
Median (range) duration of lesion (weeks)	4 (1 – 12)	3 (1-12)	3.5 (3-4)	3 (1 – 32)	3 (1 – 32)
PCR result: no. of positive tests	18	14	4	44	80
Culture result (+: - : nd)	8:6:4	8:5:1	1:1:2	23:8:13	40:20:20
Microscopy result (+: - : nd)	7:7:4	6:7:1	0:2:2	12:19:13	25:35:20
Median (range) time to healing (weeks)	8 (4–32)¹	31 (2–48)²	8 (6-12)³	13 (5-44)⁴	12 (2-48)
Recurrence 1 year after treatment	0	0	0	0	0

nd = not done.
¹Excluding one patient lost to follow up.
²Excluding one patient whose lesion had not healed after 52 weeks and required surgery.
³Excluding two patients with extensive oedematous disease who required skin grafting.
⁴Excluding four patients lost to follow up and 2 ulcers that required skin grafting.

ISSN: 1471-2334