Clinical course of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 associated pulmonary tuberculosis during short-course antituberculosis therapy
Schwander, S.K.; Dietrich, M.; Mugyenyi, P.; Kityo, C.; Okwera, A.; Johnson, J.; Nsubuga, P.; Ruesch-Gerdes, S.; Whalen, C.
East African Medical Journal 74(9): 543-548
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 9487427 Document Number: 470014
Tuberculosis (TB) is the most often seen and serious opportunistic infection in HIV-1-infected individuals in developing countries. Infection with HIV-1 predisposes individuals to TB, both progressive primary and reactivation disease. To describe the clinical response to anti-TB therapy in HIV-1 disease, 49 HIV-1-positive Ugandan adults of mean age 29.4 years with active pulmonary TB (PTB) were studied in a trial of rifampicin containing short-course anti-TB regimens. At presentation, 18 patients were PPD skin test nonreactive, and 39 had cavitary lung disease. The mean CD4 lymphocyte count at presentation was 339/mcl. Among patients with abnormal baseline clinical values, the median time to resolution of fever, weight gain of 10%, increase of hemoglobin to 10 g/dl, and Karnofsky performance score (KPS) to 80 occurred before sputum smear and culture conversion. Short-term survival was associated with baseline lymphocytes of less than 1200/mcl, cavitary lung disease, atypical chest radiograph, and PPD nonreactivity. PPD nonreactivity and noncavitary disease were associated with significantly lower CD4 lymphocyte counts. Study findings demonstrate that the careful monitoring of clinical symptoms and simple, inexpensive, and widely available laboratory markers permit the satisfactory evaluation of early clinical response to anti-TB therapy in HIV-1-infected patients with pulmonary TB.