Some of pulmonary tuberculous patients who completed their medication course experience lung function impairment

Some of pulmonary tuberculous patients who completed their medication course experience lung function impairment which may influence their quality of life. However, the pattern and nature of post-tuberculosis lung impairment is still not identified. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the type and degree of lung physiology changes in previously treated tuberculous patients which latter may affect their quality of life; thus helping clinicians for early diagnosis of lung impairment, especially in tuberculous endemic areas.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient completed an outpatient course of standard first line anti-tuberculosis therapy and declared as cured

Exclusion Criteria:

• Smoker (to avoid spirometry biases).
• Extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases
• Multidrug resistant tuberculosis
• known contraindications to spirometry testing
• Individuals with chest wall deformities or neuromuscular diseases
• Patients who failed to achieve acceptability and reproducibility criteria of the spirometry test
• Defaulter cases or irregular treatment,
• known coexisting chronic lung disease as history of asthma or interstitial lung diseases
• A history of illicit drug use
• Patients with comorbidities: renal and hepatic insufficiency, heart diseases and metabolic disorders.

Patient more than 18 years old had been newly diagnosed drug-sensitive first episode pulmonary tuberculosis, confirmed by sputum smear microscopy were included in the study. He completed an outpatient course of standard first line anti-tuberculosis therapy (6 months) and declared as cured without radiological change over the past year (in comparable with chest X-ray at the end of TB treatment).