EVALUATION OF AN INTENSIVE INTERMITTENT-INDUCTION REGIMEN AND DURATION OF SHORT-COURSE TREATMENT FOR HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-RELATED PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

This study examined whether adding levofloxacin to a standard four-dru g regimen improved the 8-week culture response and compared effectiven ess of 9 versus 6 months of intermittent therapy for human immunodefic iency virus-related pansusceptible pulmonary tuberculosis. Patients we re randomized to receive either four or five drugs, the fifth being le vofloxacin, Patients who completed induction therapy were randomized t o complete 9 versus 6 months of intermittent therapy with isoniazid an d rifampin. In the randomized induction phase, 97.3% of patients in th e four-drug group and 95.8% in the five-drug group had sputum culture conversion at 8 weeks (P = 1.00). In the continuation phase, one patie nt (2%) assigned to 9 months and two patients (3.9%) assigned to 6 mon ths of therapy had treatment failure/relapse (P = 1.00), In conclusion , this study showed that levofloxacin added no benefit to a highly eff ective, largely intermittent, four-drug induction regimen; Both 9 and 6 months of intermittent therapy were associated with low treatment fa ilure/relapse rates.