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Reminder of important clinical lesson
Malabsorption of antimycobacterial drugs as a cause of treatment failure in tuberculosis
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  1. João Bento1,
  2. Raquel Duarte2,3,
  3. Maria Céu Brito3,
  4. Sónia Leite4,
  5. Maria Rosário Lobato5,
  6. Maria do Carmo Caldeira5,
  7. Aurora Carvalho2,3
  1. 1Department of Pulmonology, Hospital de S Joao, Alameda Professor Hernani Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
  2. 2Centro de Diagnóstico Pneumológico de Vila Nova de Gaia, Rua Conselheiro Veloso da Cruz, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
  3. 3Department of Pulmonology, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Rua Conceição Fernandes, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
  4. 4Department of Gastrenterology, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Rua Conceição Fernandes, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
  5. 5Lisbon Pharmacy Department, Lisboa, Portugal
  1. Correspondence to João Bento, joao.a.p.bento{at}gmail.com

Summary

Malabsorption of oral antimycobacterial drugs is a rare cause of treatment failure in tuberculosis (TB). Several predisposing comorbidities have been recognised. HIV infection is the most important risk factor referred in the literature. There are few reports about antimycobacterial drugs malabsorption, particularly in the absence of predisposing comorbidities. The authors present a clinical case of oral treatment failure in TB due to malabsorption; however, what caused the failure remained unclear. Possible causes of malabsorption are discussed under various sections. Purpose of this case report is to point to this rare situation that can easily go unnoticed unless a very high level of suspicion is present.

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Footnotes

  • Competing interests None.

  • Patient consent Obtained.