[Results of intermittent treatment with antitubercular agents in cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis in adults]

The effectiveness of the intermittent treatment (2/7) with Rifampicin + Etambutol, administered over periods of 3 to 24 months, was tested in a log of 229 out-patients suffering from tuberculosis (bacilli carriers). Negativation of the cultures was obtained in 88.4% of the cases, most of the failures being recorded in the aged patients from rural areas, suffering from various other associated diseases and in those who did not cooperate. As these patients raise particular problems concerning the therapeutical attitude, the authors consider they should be admitted to hospital, at least during the critical periods of the disease.