[Routine use of 6-month antitubercular treatment in 300 patients]

Over a 2-year period, all patients with incipient tuberculosis seen in a hospital unit were given a 6-month treatment consisting of rifampicine, isoniazide, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. A retrospective study of these 300 patients showed that the treatment was effective, with no failure if taken for more than 2 months. Relapses were rare when the drugs were taken regularly, the responsible M. tuberculosis strain was sensitive, and there was no associated malignancy (present in 1.4% of the cases). The drugs were moderately well tolerated, and treatment had to be modified because of side-effects in 4.6% of the patients. It also appeared that 57% of the patients fully complied with the prescription, and 16% were lost sight of by the hospital unit. Treatment was altered in 36% of the cases, but in 16% changes were introduced by private doctors for reasons which retrospectively proved to be without medical grounds. It is concluded that this 6-month chemotherapeutic regimen was effective in more than 98% of the cases, and that the main problem in management of tuberculosis is the patient's compliance with treatment.