BACKGROUND: Ten percent of all tuberculosis patients may develop skeletal involvement, and the spine is most common anatomical location. Tuberculous spondylitis further complicated by fast-acid bacilli resistance to usual chemotherapy regimen (multidrug-resistant/MDR) its complications. In this case series, we would like present three MDR tuberculous cases effectively treated with tailored regi...

BACKGROUND Tuberculous pleurisy is associated with small numbers of bacteria. Due to the low rate of primary resistance to antituberculous drugs a two-drug regimen was used to treat the condition. METHODS Patients received isoniazid 5 mg/kg and rifampicin 10 mg/kg daily for six months. Clinical, radiological, and haematological assessments were performed during treatment and patients were fol...

OBJECTIVES Treatment outcome of MDR-TB is critically dependent on the proper use of second-line drugs as per the result of in vitro drug susceptibility testing (DST). We aimed to establish a standardized DST procedure based on quantitative determination of drug resistance and compared the results with those of genotypes associated with drug resistance. METHODS The protocol, based on MGIT 960 ...

The sulfonamides were the first drugs with antituberculous effects. Their use was abandoned and basically forgotten with the advent of streptomycin and isoniazid combination treatment. There is a widespread belief, apparently based on testing a single isolate on questionable media, that Mycobacterium tuberculosis is resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). We saw a complex immunoco...

We report a case of Mycobacterium bovis BCG vertebral osteomyelitis in a 79-year-old man 2.5 years after intravesical BCG therapy for bladder cancer. The recovered isolate resembled M. tuberculosis biochemically, but resistance to pyrazinamide (PZA) rendered that diagnosis suspect. High-pressure liquid chromatographic studies confirmed the diagnosis of M. bovis BCG infection. The patient was or...

BACKGROUND Evidence is sparse regarding the optimal construction of regimens to treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis disease due to strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to at least both isoniazid and rifampin. Given the low potency of many second-line antituberculous drugs, we hypothesized that an aggressive regimen of at least 5 likely effective drugs during the intensive ph...

Chest wall tuberculosis is a rare entity and its clinical presentation may resemble a pyogenic abscess or chest wall tumor. The role of surgery in the diagnosis and treatment of chest wall tuberculosis is still controversial. During a 6-year period (1997-2002), six cases with cold abscesses of chest wall were managed in our clinic. Clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, treatment strategies,...

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM), the most severe form of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in humans, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality despite successful treatment with antituberculous drugs. This is due to the irreversible brain damage subsequent to the local inflammatory response of the host to M. tuberculosis. Corticosteroids have been used in conjunction with antituber...