Volume 12, Number 9—September 2006
Research
Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis Management in Resource-limited Settings
Eva Nathanson*
, Catharina Lambregts-van Weezenbeek†, Michael L. Rich‡, Rajesh Gupta*, Jaime Bayona‡§, Kai Blöndal†, José A. Caminero¶, J. Peter Cegielski#, Manfred Danilovits**, Marcos A. Espinal*, Vahur Hollo††, Ernesto Jaramillo*, Vaira Leimane‡‡, Carole D. Mitnick§§, Joia S. Mukherjee§§, Paul Nunn*, Alexander Pasechnikov‡¶¶, Thelma Tupasi##, Charles Wells#, and Mario C. Raviglione*
, Catharina Lambregts-van Weezenbeek†, Michael L. Rich‡, Rajesh Gupta*, Jaime Bayona‡§, Kai Blöndal†, José A. Caminero¶, J. Peter Cegielski#, Manfred Danilovits**, Marcos A. Espinal*, Vahur Hollo††, Ernesto Jaramillo*, Vaira Leimane‡‡, Carole D. Mitnick§§, Joia S. Mukherjee§§, Paul Nunn*, Alexander Pasechnikov‡¶¶, Thelma Tupasi##, Charles Wells#, and Mario C. Raviglione*Table 1
Treatment outcome definitions for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) patients (14)
| Category | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cure | Completed treatment according to country protocol and been consistently culture-negative (>5 results) for final 12 mo of treatment. If only 1 positive culture is reported during that time with no concomitant clinical evidence of deterioration, patient may still be considered cured, provided that positive culture is followed by >3 consecutive negative cultures taken >30 d apart. |
| Treatment completed | Completed treatment according to country protocol but does not meet definition for cure or treatment failure because of lack of bacteriologic results (i.e., <5 cultures were performed in the final 12 mo of therapy). |
| Death | Died for any reason during the course of MDRTB treatment. |
| Treatment default | Treatment was interrupted for >2 consecutive months for any reason. |
| Treatment failure | >2 of 5 cultures recorded in the final 12 mo are positive or if any of the final 3 cultures is positive. Treatment will also be considered to have failed if a clinical decision has been made to terminate treatment early due to poor response or adverse events. |
| Transfer out | Transferred to another reporting and recording unit and the treatment outcome is unknown. |
