A Follow-up Study of the Initial Group of Cases of Skeletal Tuberculosis Treated with Streptomycin, 1946-1948

The United States Veterans Administration and Armed Forces Cooperative Studies of Tuberculosis

¹ Pulmonary Disease, Service, Veterans Administration Hospital; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

The effect of antimierobial therapy in this series of patients reflects itself in a lowered rate of tubereulous relapse, a lower death rate from tuberculosis, a greater chance for survival, and a high rate of funetional recovery and return to productive activity. Streptomycin alone, given for more than sixty days, appears to have had a significant effect in reducing the relapse rate of all tuberculous lesions. Sixty-four per cent of the entire group of patients who received a single initial or multiple short courses of treatment with streptomycin for 120 days or less had no subsequent relapse and did not die from tuberculosis. Based upon these findings and reports from other series, it is to be expected that adjunct treatment for skeletal tuberculosis with longer courses of antimicrobial therapy and combinations of such agents should demonstrate a further improvement in the rates of relapse and mortality from tuberculosis, in clinical response, and in an earlier and increased rate of return to productive activity for the patient.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Technorati    What's this?