Influence of previous tuberculosis treatment history on acid-fast bacilli smear and culture conversion.

Abstract

SETTING:

A teaching hospital in the Republic of Korea, 2003-2009.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effect of previous tuberculosis (TB) treatment history on sputum smear and culture conversion.

DESIGN:

Data, including sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) results at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24, were collected from patients with AFB sputum smear-positive and culture-confirmed pulmonary TB. Patients with multidrug-resistant TB or those with poor adherence were excluded. AFB conversion was compared between patients with a previous history of anti-tuberculosis treatment and those without.

RESULTS:

The median age of the 208 patients was 49.0 years; 58.3% were male, while 43 (20.7%) had a history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment. Patients with a history of previous treatment had significantly lower sputum smear-negative conversion at 2 weeks of treatment compared with patients without (70.0% vs. 44.8%, P = 0.005). However, the two groups did not differ in culture conversion and in smear conversion at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

CONCLUSION:

Patients with a history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment are more likely to have positive sputum AFB smear at 2 weeks of treatment. However, sputum culture conversion is not affected by previous treatment history.

• Authors: J Lee, B J Lee, H I Yoon, C-T Lee, J H Lee
• Journal: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (Int J Tuberc Lung Dis) Vol. 16 Issue 10 Pg. 1344-8 (Oct 2012) ISSN: 1815-7920 [Electronic] France
• PMID: 23107634 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antitubercular Agents

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Antitubercular Agents (therapeutic use)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis (drug effects, isolation & purification)
• Prevalence
• Republic of Korea (epidemiology)
• Retrospective Studies
• Sputum (microbiology)
• Treatment Failure
• Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant (drug therapy, epidemiology, microbiology)
• Tuberculosis, Pulmonary (drug therapy, epidemiology, microbiology)