Features of intravenous anti TB therapy in patients with first diagnosed pulmonary TB in the intensive phase of treatment

Background: We determined the effectiveness of intravenous anti-TB drugs compared with their oral administration during the intensive phase of treatment. Methods: 152 patients with newly diagnosed destructive pulmonary TB were randomized into 2 groups: Main (n=65) who received isoniazid (0.3 g), ethambutol (1.2 g) and sodium rifamycin (0.6 g) iv with pyrazinamide (2.0 g) per os and control (n=87) who received standard chemotherapy with the same drugs in the same doses orally. Results: After intensive phase sputum conversion was found in all the patients main group and 71 (81.6±4.1 %) patients control p 0.05. In patients with destructive TB time to sputum conversion was 1.7±0.1 months in main group and 2.2±0.2 months in control, p Conclusions: Use of iv isoniazid, ethambutol and sodium rifamycin in the intensive phase of chemotherapy resulted in a significant reduction in terms of sputum conversion.