Treatment outcomes of pregnant women with drug-resistant tuberculosis in Uganda: A retrospective review of 18 cases.

BACKGROUND

There is a dearth of reports on drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) treatment outcomes among pregnant women in tuberculosis (TB)/HIV high-burdened countries. We report treatment outcomes of 18 pregnant women with DRTB in Uganda.

METHODS

We reviewed charts of individuals who received DRTB treatment in Uganda across 16 DRTB treatment sites. We included all women who were pregnant during DRTB treatment and had a treatment outcome documented between 2013 and 2019.

RESULTS

There were 18 pregnant women with a mean age (standard deviation (SD)) of 27.5 (5.2) years, of whom 8 (44.4%) were HIV co-infected. Among these women, 12 (66.7%) had primary DRTB and 8 (44.4%) had multidrug-resistant TB. Levofloxacin (Lfx), Pyrazinamide, Cycloserine and Kanamycin (Kn) were the most (>78%) used drugs in the treatment regimen and the mean (SD) treatment duration was 17.6 (7.5) months. Elevated liver enzymes (81.8%, n = 11) and hearing loss (33.3%, n = 15) were the most frequently encountered drug adverse events. Treatment success was observed among 15 (83.3%) patients, 2 (11.1%) patients were lost to follow up and 1 (5.6%) patient died.

CONCLUSION

The treatment success among pregnant women with DRTB in Uganda was high despite a high prevalence of HIV co-infection.