Ziaullah, Anila Basit, Arshad Javaid.
Comparison of the efficacy of 06 months vs 09 months therapy in smear positive pulmonary TB.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;10(2):5-9.

This study was aimed to assess and compare the efficacy of anti TB treatment for 6 months and 9 months duration. New cases of sputum smear positive TB were randomly allocated to one of the two groups. Both received RHZE (Myrin P) in first 2 months followed by RH for 4 months (Group A) and RH for 7 months (Group B). Patients were followed at monthly interval for first 2 months and then 2 monthly intervals until completion of treatment and subsequently followed at 6 monthly intervals for 18 months to monitor for relapse. Sputum smears were examined for AFB at every visit and chest x-ray performed at 1,2,6 & 9 and then 6 monthly interval. Results: 200 patients were studied, 93 patients in group A (6 months regimen) and 107 in group B (9 months regimen). At the end of one month, sputum conversion in both the groups together was 89% and at the end of 2 months was 97%. Treatment Out come Group-A: Cured 32.5%, Treatment completed 16.8%, lost to follow up 50.5%, relapse 12.5% and there was no treatment failure. Group-B: Cured 18.07%, treatment completed 25.4%, lost to follow up 55%, relapse none and one patient had treatment failure. Conclusion: - Default rate was extremely high in this study, where treatment was not supervised. Sputum conversion of 97% to FDC, RHZE (Myrin P) was impressive. There was no significant difference in the treatment outcome in the two groups, however 12.5% relapse rate in 6 month regimen as compared to none in 9 months regimen is rather alarming.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com