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Chemotherapeutic treatment for spinal tuberculosis
J H van Loenhout-Rooyackers1, A L M Verbeek, P C Jutte
1GGD Regio Nijmegen (Public Health Office), The Netherlands. jloenhout@GGD-Nijmegen.nl
Aim:
To evaluate whether 6 months of chemotherapy for patients with spinal tuberculosis prevents relapse as effectively as more than 6 months of chemotherapy.
Method:
Literature review. Medline search including references, from January 1978 to November 2000. Inclusion criteria for publications: diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis confirmed bacteriologically and/or histologically, or probable on the basis of clinical and radiological parameters; treatment regimen (whether or not in combination with surgery) included isoniazid (H), rifampicin (R) and pyrazinamide (Z); follow-up period after completion of treatment of 12 months or more.
Exclusion Criteria:
patients with relapse who had previously been treated adequately for tuberculosis.
Outcome Parameters:
Relapse rate.
Results:
Four publications were found with HRZ regimens of 6 months' duration and 10 publications with HRZ regimens of >6 months' duration. A number of patients had received HRE (E = ethambutol) for > or = 9 months. In the results, no distinction was made between treatment groups. HRZ for 6 months led to a relapse rate of 0% (0/56, 95%CI 0.0-6.4); follow-up after surgical intervention ranged from 6 to 108 months. HRZ for > or = 9 months (> or = 119 patients) or HRE for > or = 9 months (< or = 71 patients) led to a relapse rate of 2% (4/218, 95%CI 0.6-5.0); follow-up after surgical intervention was 6-168 months. Despite the small number of studies, 6 months of therapy is probably sufficient for patients with spinal tuberculosis.