title: Efficacy of the 6-month thrice-weekly regimen in the treatment of new sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis under clinical trial conditions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme of India, patients with new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis are treated with a thrice-weekly regimen of antitubercular drugs (2H(3)R(3)Z(3)E(3)/4H(3)R(3) [H isoniazid, R rifampicin, Z pyrazinamide and E ethambutol]) for 6 months. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the efficacy andtolerability of this regimen under clinical trial conditions in HIV-negative patients with newly diagnosed smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analysed the data on patients assigned to the control regimen (2H (3)R(3)Z(3)E(3)/4H(3)R(3)) in two clinical trials during 2001-06 at the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 268 patients treated with this regimen, data for efficacy analysis were available for 249. At the end of treatment, of 249 patients, 238 (96%) had a favourable status. Treatment failure occurred in the remaining 11: 7 in whom the organisms were initially drug-susceptible and 4 with initial drug resistance. Of the 238 patients who had a favourable status at the end of treatment, 14 (6%) had recurrence of tuberculosis during the following 24 months. In the intention-to-treat analysis, 245 (94%) of 262 patients had a favourable status at the end of treatment. Of the 28 patients with initial drug resistance, 24 (86%) had a favourable outcome. Only 4 of these 24 patients were found to have recurrence of tuberculosis in 2 years of follow-up. Among the 221 patients initially infected with drug-susceptible organisms, drug resistance did not develop in any of the 7 patients in whom the treatment failed or the 10 who had recurrence of tuberculosis. Further, 5 of the 7 patients in whom the treatment failed continued to excrete drug-susceptible bacilli at 6 months. Adverse drug reactions were observed in 38 (14%) of the 262 patients. Only 3 (1.1%) needed a modification in the treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This thrice-weekly 6-month regimen of antitubercular drugs, when administered under full supervision, is associated with a high rate of favourable treatment outcomes in HIV-negative patients with newly diagnosed sputum smearpositive pulmonary tuberculosis. There are few adverse drug reactions in these patients.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Indian Council of Medical Research, No.1, Mayor Sathyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600031, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Banu Rekha
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajaram
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kripasankar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parthasarathy
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Umapathy
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sheikh
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Selvakumar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Victor
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Niruparani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sridhar
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jawahar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004977:Ethambutol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D007538:Isoniazid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D011718:Pyrazinamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D012293:Rifampin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D011718:Pyrazinamide; D004977:Ethambutol; D007538:Isoniazid; D012293:Rifampin