Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis during Pregnancy: A Report of 7 Cases

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a global public health problem affecting women of childbearing age. Little is known however about the safety of the drugs used to treat MDR-TB during pregnancy. We describe 7 patients who were treated for MDR-TB during pregnancy. These patients had chronic tuberculosis that had caused extensive parenchymal damage and had high-grade resistance to antituberculous drugs. All patients received individualized antituberculous therapy prior to delivery of healthy term infants. Neither obstetrical complications nor perinatal transmission of MDB-TB was observed. One patient experienced treatment failure and another abandoned therapy. The other 5 patients are currently cured or in treatment and have culture-negative status. In each of these 7 cases excellent treatment outcomes were obtained for the women and their children. Under certain circumstances MDR-TB can be successfully treated during pregnancy. (authors)