ALA-PDT combined with antibiotics for the treatment of atypical mycobacterial skin infections: Outcomes and safety

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been shown to be a very successful therapy in clinical practice, and its usefulness as a treatment for bacterial infections has been gradually recognized by researchers, who believe it has very good clinical prospects. Atypical mycobacterial skin infections are a type of rare refractory infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) combined with antibiotics for the treatment of atypical mycobacterial skin infections. Methods: In this study, 4 patients with atypical mycobacterial skin infections were treated with ALA-PDT combined with antibiotic therapy. These patients were diagnosed with atypical mycobacterial skin infections by bacterial culture and microarray analysis, tests that were also useful for identifying the strains responsible for the infections. In addition to being treated with antibiotics, the skin was also treated locally with ALA-PDT (20% ALA was applied to the lesion and incubated in the dark, then, the lesion was irradiated with a red light with an energy density of 100 J/cm(2)) every 10 days for a total of 3-5 sescions, Results: All four patients enrolled in the study were cured with 100% efficiency after receiving combination therapy with ALA-PDT and antibiotics for three months. All patients experienced redness and pain during treatment but did not experience any other forms of severe discomfort and were satisfied with the results of their treatments. Conclusion: Local ALA-PDT combined with antibiotics is a safe and effective method of treating atypical mycobacterial skin infections.