Abstract
It is not uncommon for tuberculosis patients taking 3 or 4 kinds of antituberculous agents long-term to develop adverse effects such as rash or hepatic dysfunction.However,the frequency of rash is unclear because many cases are based on patients' self-reports.The purpose of this study was to clarify the incidence of rash caused by antituberculous agent as well as the relationship between rash and other factors such as other adverse effects,clinical test values and period of taking antituberculous agents until appearance of rash.
We conducted a retrospective search of medical records for inpatients with tuberculosis at Tokyo Hospital from October 1,2004 to September 30,2006.There were 266 subjects and rash developed in 100 of them (38%).In most cases,the rash was only mild and easily controlled with antiallergics.However,rash was severe in 26 patients requiring the reduction or discontinuation of antituberculous agents.We noted no difference in rash occurrence rate among prescriptions for antituberculous agents and no relationship between rash and other factors was observed.These results indicate that the frequency of rash caused by antituberculous agents is high and that it is important to judge the severity of each case in order to perform appropriate treatment.
