A Natural History Study of Tuberculosis in China; Correlates of a Successful Response to Treatment

Detailed Summary

Background: \- In spite of well-researched treatments and therapies, 5 to 10 percent of tuberculosis (TB) patients who have initially successful TB treatments will relapse, usually within a year after completion of therapy. This percentage is even greater for patients who are infected with multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant types of TB. Because the People s Republic of China has the second highest number of TB cases in the world, researchers are interested in studying TB patients in China to evaluate their response to treatment on a long-term basis. Objectives: * To improve TB diagnosis and testing by determining the number and proportion of patients admitted with suspected TB who actually have TB (definite or probable). * To assess the prevalence of non-tuberculosis bacteria among patients with presumed TB. Eligibility: \- Individuals between 18 and 65 years of age who have been admitted to Henan Provincial Chest Hospital with suspected tuberculosis. Design: * Participants will be divided into three groups, based on their diagnosis after admission. Another group of individuals who do not have TB will be enrolled as controls for comparison purposes during the study. * The study will use computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest at initial enrollment, 2 months, and 6 months to evaluate disease response to treatment. Incidents of TB that are not in the chest area (extrapulmonary TB) will also be studied. * The study will also monitor the treatments and therapies used against the disease, changes in patients immune systems, and any changes in the biological samples taken over the course of treatment.

Study Details

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