Side effects associated with the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
METHODS
Süreyyapaşa Centre for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey.


OBJECTIVE
To report the frequency of treatment side effects in cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) tuberculosis.


METHODS
A retrospective review of the medical records of 263 patients who received individualised treatment for MDR-TB between April 1992 and June 2004.


RESULTS
One or more side effects developed in 182 cases (69.2%). These effects led the clinicians to withdraw one or more drugs from the treatment regimen in 146 cases (55.5%). Side effects observed most frequently included: ototoxicity (41.8%), psychiatric disorders (21.3%), gastrointestinal disturbance (14.0%), arthralgia (11.4%), epileptic seizures (9.9%), hepatitis (4.5%), and dermatological effects (4.5%). At the time of analysis, treatment was successful in 204 (77.6%) cases. Fifty-nine patients (22.4%) had poor outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Timely and aggressive management of drug side effects means that high side effect rates in MDR-TB treatment need not compromise success rates.
Törün
T
T
Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Süreyyapaşa Centre for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. tulaytorun@superonline.com
Güngör
G
G
Ozmen
I
I
Bölükbaşi
Y
Y
Maden
E
E
Biçakçi
B
B
Ataç
G
G
Sevim
T
T
Tahaoğlu
K
K
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007263:Infusions, Parenteral; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents