Controlled Clinical Trial Of A Regimen Of Two Durations For The Treatment Of Isoniazid Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Abstract

Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who were failures of primary chemotherapy with strains resistant to isoniazid or to isoniazid and streptomycin were allocated at random to receive a regimen of rifampicin and ethambutol for 6 (4RE) or 9 months (7RE), supplemented in both treatment series by streptomycin plus pyrazinamide for the first 2 months. The patients were treated in hospital for the first 2 months and thereafter treatment was supervised on a daily basis in the nearest health institution by an appointed member of staff or at home by responsible members of the community. A total of 306 patients was admitted and 226 patients remained for analysis at the end of chemotherapy, 179 with a strain resistant to isoniazid alone and 47 with a strain resistant to isoniazid and streptomycin. There were only two failures at the end of chemotherapy, one in the 6-month series who had resistance to both isoniazid and streptomycin pretreatment, and one in the 9-month series who had resistance to isoniazid alone. For the 144 patients with initial resistance to isoniazid alone assessed up to 30 months, the relapse rates were low in both series: 4% for the 72 patients in the 6-month series and 3% for the 72 patients in the 9-month series. However, for the 34 patients with resistance to both drugs, three of the 14 in the 6-month but none of 20 in the 9-month series relapsed.