Tuberc Respir Dis.  1972 Sep;19(3):5-12. 10.4046/trd.1972.19.3.5.

Clinical Experience with Rifampicin in the Retreatment of 46 Cases of Advanced Pulmonary Tuberculosis

• KMID: 2529066
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1972.19.3.5

Abstract

46 patients of sputum positive advan ced pulmonary tuberculosis were retreated with rifampicin being the major chemotherapeutic drug. 37 cases (80%) attained negative conversion. The factors which have influenced the result of the retreatment were extent of diseases, history of diseases and chemotherapy, numbers of drug resistance and combining antituberculosis drug (s). Four out of five cases of intermittent treatment achieved negative conversion. The time of negativation were one to eight months after the initiation of treatment on concentration smears and between one to five months on cultures. So-called smear positive and culture negative cases occurred in 28 cases(76%) out of 37 converted cases, the duration being from one to six months. Criteria of resistance to rifampicin was judged as growth in 0.4 mcg/ ml by Youman’s liquid media. Because tubercle bacíllí have grown invariably in that concentration in treatment failure cases, and the strains of converted cases have never grown in that concentration before negative conversion. There were no primary resistance to rifampicin in 222 pre-treatment strains of sputum of tuberculosis patients judged by the above mentioned criteria. Over-all radiographic changes were minimal. There were four cases (6.2%) of hepatic dysfunction with jaundice out of 64 patients who had one or more months of treatment. Other untoward reactions were negligible.