Role of clofazimine in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a retrospective observational cohort assessment

Results: Out of 144 MDR/XDR-TB patients, 44 were treated with clofazimine. Of these, none experienced major side effects attributed to clofazimine requiring discontinuations. However, 20 patients had the clofazimine reduced to manage adverse events. Outcomes were similar in patients treated with and without clofazimine, although clofazimine-treated cases had a more frequent history of previous treatment with a fluoroquinolone and an injectable agent (43.2% versus 20%, P,0.05). Patients treated with clofazimine took a long time for sputum culture conversion and achieved a low percentage of conversion overall. Conclusions: Clofazimine did not improve the chance of bacterial conversion, providing a chance of treatment success in MDR-TB cases. However, 100 mg of clofazimine once daily added to an individualized multidrug regimen was well tolerated in our study. It might be used as an alternative drug for the treatment of complicated MDR/XDR-TB patients.