ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS THERAPY

… Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of illness and death worldwide,especially in Asia and Africa. An effective control has been achieved by the widespread use ofATT. It has been postulated that hepatotoxicity induced by ATT is not truly idiosyncratic inessence; rather certain genetic and environmental factors are attributed to coincide to producesufficient quantity of toxic metabolites that then cause varied alterations in liver functions.Objective of the study was to determine the frequency of derangement of liver enzymes inpatients taking anti-tuberculous therapy within the first 8 weeks of therapy. Study Design: Adescriptive case series study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the inpatientand out-patient department of general medicine of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences(PIMS), Islamabad for blood sampling and biochemical assays. Material and Methods: Thestudy was performed on a total of 114 patients of tuberculosis. ATT was started after baseline liverfunction tests. Liver function tests were repeated at 4 weeks and 8 weeks to observe the effects onliver enzymes derangement. Results: 12 patients had deranged LFTs while 102 patients hadnormal LFTs after 4 weeks of treatment while 10 patients had deranged LFTs and 104 patients hadnormal LFTs after 8 weeks of treatment. Conclusions: Anti-tuberculosis drugs inducedhepatotoxicity occurs less frequently. All patients put on anti-tuberculous therapy must befollowed up for at least the initial 4 weeks, and the patient and caregivers should be told how torecognize signs of anti-tuberculous induced hepato-toxicity.