Treatment outcomes among patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Abbassia Chest Hospital from July 2006 to June 2010

BackgroundTuberculosis despite being treatable & preventable disease, it continues to be a major health challenge in many parts of the world. The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis has made the current epidemic worse.MethodsThis retrospective study included 200 MDR-TB patients admitted to Abbassia Chest Hospital in the period between July 2006 and June 2010. Their files had been analyzed including medical history, chest examination and investigations. Drug regimens of resistance used for treatment and the fate of treatment were reported.ResultsPatients were 148 males (74%) and 52 females (26%). Their ages ranged from 15 to 76 years (37.83 ± 12.78 years). 81.5% of them lived in rural areas, 2.5% were tobacco smokers and were diabetics. Defaulters were 44.5%, treatment failure patients were 44%, relapse patients were 4%, and new cases constituted 7.5% of the studied patients. Acquired resistance was 92.5% and primary resistance was 7.5%. The duration for sputum conversion ranged from 2 to 9 months (4.19 ± 1.28 months). The fate of MDR-TB treatment was favorable outcome in 132 cases (66%) and unfavorable in 68 cases (34%) [28 patients were defaulters (14%), 21 patients died (10.5%) and 19 patients had treatment failure (9.5%)]. The prevalence of defaulter patients was significantly higher among unfavorable outcome patients while the prevalence of treatment failure patients was significantly higher among favorable outcome.ConclusionSuccessful treatment could be achieved in 66% of MDR-TB patients treated in Abbassia Chest Hospital between July 2006 and June 2010.