title: Treatment outcome of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the outcomes of pulmonary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients treated at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases (OICD), a reference hospital for TB in Karachi, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical study for the period 1996-2006, with follow-up until June 2007 was performed. All the culture and sensitivity proven cases of MDR pulmonary TB were initially admitted for 3-6 months till the sputum converted negative. Treatment regimen was decided on individual basis, and included 4-6 drugs. Supervised treatment was given to all patients during the hospitalization. After discharge from the hospital, patients were followed at monthly interval at the outpatient department of OICD for 18 months total.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five hundred and seventy nine adult patients (59.93% male) with mean age of 32.44 +/- 12.63 years were studied. All patients had a history of treatment with first line anti-tuberculosis drugs. Treatment was successful in 227 (39.2%). The mortality rate was 27(4.6%) during hospitalization. During admission 83(14.3%) left treatment and 239 (41.2%) were lost to follow-up during treatment. Treatment failure was observed in three patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The treatment success rate in this study is satisfactory but high default rate is a challenge in the management of MDR tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi.
authors.forename: Nisar Ahmed
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irfan
authors.forename: Zeeshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mahfooz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents