[Response to therapy in multiple drug resistant tuberculosis patients]

Multiple drug resistant tuberculosis is an increasingly significant medical problem, because it means the spread of microorganisms for which "second line" drugs are required to eliminate them; therapeutic effectiveness is lower, it takes longer to treat it, leading to more adverse effects in addition to being more expensive than the conventional treatment.

To identify the response to individualized treatment in multiple drug resistant tuberculosis patients, who are non-HIV seropositive.

A descriptive study was conducted in a sample of multiple drug resistant patients, who were treated for a year under individualized courses of treatment from 2000 to 2010 in Hospital Neumológico "Benéfico Jurídico". Data were collected from their medical histories and from bacteriological records.

Out of 42 patients, 85.7% were males and the average age was 48.8 years. The most common category on admission was chronically-ill patient (40.5%). The average time for negative results in direct exam was 4.6 months and in culturing was 6 months; this indicator was lower in patients regarded as failures and higher in those classified as relapses. The highest healing percentage was found in chronic patients and in those classified as failures, accounting for 23.8 and 21.4% respectively.

The compliance with individualized treatment under direct observation in multiple drug resistant tuberculosis proved to be effective in over half of the cases.