| Abstract: | Abstract Objectives: Pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasing worldwide, but data from regions with an intermediate tuberculosis (TB) burden are insufficient, and the reason for the changing epidemiology of NTM lung disease is unclear. We investigated the trends of NTM lung disease at a tertiary hospital in Korea and evaluated the contribution of liquid culture systems. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of mycobacterial cultures of respiratory specimens from 26,793 patients at Severance Hospital in South Korea from January 2006 to December 2010. Results: The recovery percent of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates was 5.9% in 2006 and 7.1% in 2010, and the recovery percent of NTM isolates was 2.0% in 2006 and 6.3% in 2010. The annual percent of NTM isolation has increased steadily every year (p for trend
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