Effectiveness of intravenous Isoniazid and Ethambutol administration in patients with tuberculosis meningoencephalitis and HIV infection

Abstract

A significant improvement in the clinical symptoms and X-ray signs in patients treated intravenously with isoniazid and ethambutol was observed and compared to group 2. The sputum Mycobacterium tuberculosis positivity was observed during the second month of the treatment in 25.0% of patients from group 1 and 76.1% of the patients from the control group (p=0.003). In addition, nine patients (39.1%) died up to 6 months when isoniazid and ethambutol were prescribed intravenously compared with 22 (70.9%) in group 2 (p=0.023). In patients with acute progressive form of tuberculosis/tuberculous meningoencephalitis with HIV, the intravenous isoniazid and ethambutol treatment was more effective than oral isoniazid and ethambutol treatment at 2 months of intensive treatment in sputum conversion as well as in clinical improvement, accompanied by significantly higher mean serum concentrations. In addition, the mortality rate was lower in intravenous isoniazid and ethambutol treatment compared to oral treatment.