This report describes the first isolation of Mycobacterium shimoidei in Finland from a sputum
specimen obtained from an elderly female patient. M. shimoidei, a potential lung pathogen,
is difficult to identify by routine methods and only a few cases have been reported. The
present study demonstrated that M. shimoidei has a characteristic pattern for fatty acids and
alcohols in gas liquid chromatography. This chromatogram and the pattern of mycolic acids
on thin-layer chromatography allow it to be distinguished routinely. The unique sequence of …