Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Mycobacterium haemophilum was isolated from wrist and ankle aspirates as the organism responsible for tenosynovitis in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Mycobacterium isolates recovered from synovial fluid were identified as hemin requiring by their failure to grow on subculture unless the medium was supplemented with hemin. M. haemophilum is of low virulence and rarely associated with infections in humans. This is the first documented case of M. haemophilum infection in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.