Long term outcome of multidrug-resistant TB patients in Fukujuji Hospital in Japan.

Objective: To present the long-term outcome of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) patients. Methods: An observational study of 291 MDR TB cases that were diagnosed from 1990 to 2011 at the Fukujuji Hospital in Japan. Results: The frequency of relapse after cure was 3/168 (1.8%) during a mean follow-up of 4.4 years. Among 16 failure cases, eight patients were negative in later years. One case among the nine lost-to-follow-up patients with culture conversion returned 1.5 years later with positive culture. Conclusions: Chronic-positive patients remain positive for years and require observation. Lost to follow-up cases may relapse.