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Jan 20, 2014Article Details
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Main Article Content
Prevalence and incidence of symmetrical symptomatic peripheral neuropathy in patients with multidrugresistant TB
Abstract
Objective. To assess whether use of stavudine both before and during treatment for MDR TB increased the prevalence and incidence of SSPN.
Method. MDR TB patients at Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital were examined for signs of prevalent SSPN. Age, gender, HIV status, alcohol use, TB and HIV treatment regimens both prior to admission and current, and concomitant medications were recorded.
Results. In this cohort of 246 patients, we found that 24.4% of patients with MDR TB had SSPN at time of admission for treatment of MDR TB. They were more likely to be HIV-infected (odds ratio (OR) 3.21; 95% CI 1.25 - 8.21) and tended to have longer (>7 months) exposure to stavudine (OR 1.81; 95% CI 0.90 - 3.63). Incident SSPN occurred in 17% of patients and was associated with older age (hazard ratio (HR) 3.00; 95% CI 1.30 - 6.89) and exposure to terizidone (HR 2.98; 95% CI 0.94 to 4.61) or, to a lesser extent, with stavudine (crude HR 1.62; 95% CI 0.65 - 4.01) in the first 6 months of MDR TB treatment. This common adverse event emphasises the need for the development of less toxic drugs for the treatment of MDR TB.
