title: Patterns of drug resistance among patients with tuberculous pleural effusion in Greece.
abstract: Data on the relationship between pleural tuberculosis (TB) and anti-tuberculosis drug resistance are scarce.
  
  
  
  To determine the patterns of drug resistance among pleural Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Greece and the incidence of tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) among patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) pulmonary TB.
  
  
  
  Drug susceptibility testing (DST) results recorded in the database of the National Reference Centre for Tuberculosis in Athens, Greece, over a 9-year period (2003-2011) were reviewed. Chest X-rays from hospitalised patients with pulmonary MDR/XDR-TB during the same period were also reviewed for the presence of TPE.
  
  
  
  Resistance to at least one first-line drug was observed in 11% of the cases (MDR-TB 3%, XDR-TB 1%), while 29% of the patients with pulmonary MDR/XDR-TB presented with TPE during the course of their disease, the majority ipsilateral to the lung lesions, which responded to guided anti-tuberculosis treatment.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of drug resistance among pleural M. tuberculosis isolates in Greece highlights the importance of DST prior to treatment selection in TPE patients. In our study population, TPE that developed in one third of the patients with pulmonary MDR/XDR-TB usually resolved with DST-guided anti-tuberculosis treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical Care & Pulmonary Medicine, Medical School of Athens University, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anastasakos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, 401 General Army Hospital of Greece, Athens.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Skouras
authors.affiliation: MDR/XDR Tuberculosis Unit.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moschos
authors.affiliation: MDR/XDR Tuberculosis Unit.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsikrika
authors.affiliation: National Center of Tuberculosis, Microbiology Laboratory, Sotiria General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karabela
authors.affiliation: National Center of Tuberculosis, Microbiology Laboratory, Sotiria General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marinou
authors.affiliation: National Center of Tuberculosis, Microbiology Laboratory, Sotiria General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vogiatzakis
authors.affiliation: MDR/XDR Tuberculosis Unit.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konstantinou
authors.affiliation: MDR/XDR Tuberculosis Unit.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papavasiliou
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical Care & Pulmonary Medicine, Medical School of Athens University, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kalomenidis
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054908:Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents