Prevention of Early Mortality by Presumptive Tuberculosis Therapy Study: An Open Label, Randomized Controlled Trial.

ABSTRACT: Early mortality after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) occurs in 9-39% of patients in sub-Saharan Africa. A significant proportion of deaths are attributable to tuberculosis (TB). Low baseline CD4 T-cell count and low body mass index (BMI) are strongly associated with early mortality. We hypothesized that initiation of ART concurrent with presumptive anti-TB chemotherapy in high-risk patients would reduce mortality within the first 6 months by treating unrecognized TB. From October 2011 to December 2012, ART-naive, smear-negative participants with a CD4 T-cell count < 50 cells/μL and BMI < 18 kg/m² were randomly assigned to undergo either empiric four-drug anti-TB treatment followed 2 weeks later by efavirenz-based ART (N = 23) (ART + TB) or ART only (N = 20). This ope

SUBMITTER: Manabe YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5154437 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature