ABSTRACT
Objective To study problems related to drug-induced liver lesion caused by antituberculotic therapy (DLL).Methods Totally, 172 cases of DLL occurred in 1 464 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis after antituberculotic therapy, hospitalized during January 1995 to December 2002, were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively.Results Patients aged 20 to 60 years with DLL by antituberculolis therapy accounted for 70.3% of the total. Symptoms of digestive tract and change in liver function usually occurred within 8 weeks of intensive treatment (73.8%), and discontinuation of autituberculotic drugs was not needed for the mild cases, but needed for the severe cases with liver protective therapy. In total, 157 of the 172 cases (91.3%) recovered completely and 13 case improved (7.6%), two cases deteriorated and discharged, and doses of autituberculotic drugs should be reduced or stopped in 41 cases (23.8%) affecting their treatment efficacy.Conclusions DLL was liable to occur in patients of pulmonary tuberculosis with antituberculotic therapy, especially in the elderly men with body weight less than 50 kilograms, those with previous liver damage or infected with hepatotropic virus, alcohol drinking, complicated with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, with combination of isoniazid rifampicin and pyrazinamide.
