Pleural Tuberculosis and
its Treatment Outcomes
Amer Hayat Khan1*,
Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman1, Abdul Razak
Muttalif2, Mohamed Azmi Hassali3,
Hadeer Akram1, Syed Wasif Gillani and Syed
Wasif Gillani1
1Department of Clinical
Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University
Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, 2Department of
Respiratory Medicine, Penang Hospital, Penang, 3Discipline
of Social & Administrative Pharmacy, School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia,
11800 Penang, Malaysia, 4Discipline of
Pharmacy, Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Selangor,
Malaysia
*For correspondence:
Email:
amerhayat@ymail.com
Tel: 006-017-3860275; Fax:
00604 657 0017
Received: 19 July 2012
Revised accepted: 23 June
2013
Tropical Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, August 2013; 12(4):
623-627
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v12i4.27
Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the incidence,
treatment and clinical outcomes of tuberculosis
pleuritis at a hospital in the state of Penang,
Malaysia.
Methods: A
retrospective study was
conducted in Hospital of Penang, Malaysia. Patient
records were reviewed retrospectively to identify
patients with confirmed diagnosis of tuberculous
pleuritis from January 2006 to December 2008. Chest
x-ray (CXR) and pleural biopsy were carried out on all
patients. Directly observed therapy (DOT) was given to
all patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.
Results:
Of 1548 tuberculosis cases,
80 (5.2 %) patients had tuberculous pleuritis. The mean
age of the patients was 35.4 ± 12.87 years, with a male
to female ratio of 3.4:1. Ethnically, a plurality (n =
30, 37.7 %) of cases among tuberculosis pleuritis
patients were Chinese, followed by Malay (31.2 %). Out
of the 80 patients with tuberculous pleuritis, 10 (12.5
%) also had diabetes mellitus, and 8 (10.0 %)
HIV/AIDS. Fever, cough, chest pain and shortness of
breathing were the most frequently reported symptoms.
Treatment success rate was 1.558 times higher among TB
group than pleuritis TB group (Odds ratio, 95 % CI, 1.06
– 2.59, p = 0.025).
Conclusion:
The incidence of TB
pleuritis was gender- and race-related, with DM and HIV
the most commonly reported risk factors. Treatment
success rate was higher among pulmonary TB group than in
those with TB pleuritis (extra pulmonary TB).
Keywords: Tuberculosis,
Pleuritis, HIV/AIDS, Biopsy, Pulmonary
