Drug resistance patterns, treatment outcomes and factors affecting unfavourable treatment outcomes among extensively drug resistant tuberculosis patients in Pakistan; a multicentre record review.

Background: Extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is considered as a major threat to global health. This study aimed to analyse the treatment outcomes and identify the factors significantly associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes among XDR-TB patients. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study at 10 Programmatic Management Units of the National Tuberculosis Control Program of Pakistan. The Electronic Nominal Recording Reporting System records were used to collect data of all eligible XDR-TB patients registered at the study sites between March 2012 and August 2018. Treatment outcomes were analysed as per the standard criteria. Factors associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes were analysed by using multivariate binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Out of the total 184 patients, 59 (32.1%) completed their treatment successfully. Whereby, 83 patients (45.1%) died, 24 (13%) had treatment failure, and 11 (6%) were lost to follow-up. Treatment outcomes were not evaluated in 7 (3.8%) patients. Factors significantly associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes included; conventional therapy with bedaquiline, unfavourable interim treatment outcomes and occurrence of adverse drug events (negative association). Conclusion: Treatment success rate in the study cohort was sub-optimal (i.e., <75%). The poor success rate and high mortality are concerning, and requires immediate attention of the program managers and clinicians.

Spirometry Assessment and Correlation With Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Objective To observe spirometry and its correlation with postoperative pulmonary complications in cardiac surgery patients. Study design Prospective observational study Place and duration of the study Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology (CPEIC) Multan, from January 1, 2017, to June 30, 2020 Methodology Written informed consent was taken from 357 patients. Spirometry was performed in all the patients using the conventional method. Baseline data, including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), living area, smoking history, known lung illness, six-minute walk distance, predicted forced vital capacity (FVC) %, predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) %, and type of the procedure such as aortic valve replacement (AVR), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), double-valve replacement (DVR), and mitral valve replacement (MVR) were documented for all the patients. Outcome data included postoperative ICU length of stay (LOS), respiratory failure, respiratory infection, atelectasis, and mortality. Results The most common procedure was CABG and MVR proceeded by n=254 (71.1%) and n=83 (23.2%) patients, respectively. Postoperative complications, such as respiratory failure, respiratory infection, and atelectasis, was noted in n=29 (8.1%), n=28 (7.8 %), and n=127 (35.6 %) patients, respectively, while n=5 (1.4%) patients died. Conclusion Deranged pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are associated with poor prognosis following elective cardiac surgery in terms of postoperative pulmonary complications such as pulmonary infection, respiratory failure, and atelectasis. There is a significant difference in percentage predicted of FVC and FEV1 in patients who developed atelectasis and respiratory tract infection.

Comparing the Effect of Incentive Spirometry with Acapella on Blood Gases in Physiotherapy After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.

Objective To compare the effect of incentive spirometry with Acapella (Smiths Medical Inc, Carlsbad, California) in physiotherapy after coronary artery bypass surgery. Methods A randomized controlled trial comparing incentive spirometry with Acapella was conducted in the intensive care unit of Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology (CPEIC) Multan. The study began from December 2017 to August 2019 after getting approval from the ethical committee of the hospital. Informed written consent was taken from all 270 patients who were included in the study. Patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were divided into two groups by the lottery method. The primary end-point of the study was to check the blood gases on Day 3 after the procedure at room air and compare it with the baseline and with blood gases immediately after the procedure. SPSS 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to analyze the data of this study. For qualitative variables in data such as gender, place of living, patients with any comorbidities, and education status were statistically analyzed in percentage and frequencies. For numerical variables, such as age, body mass index, blood gases values, distance covered in a six-minute walk test, and spirometry values were analyzed and statistically measured as mean and standard deviation. A P-value of less than .05 was considered significant. Results The mean partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) of incentive spirometry was 58.1±2.31 and 67.2±3.24 after extubation and after three days, respectively. While the PaO2 of Acapella was 56.3±3.43 and 66.4±3.54 after extubation and after three days, respectively. The mean PCO2 of incentive spirometry was 41.4±3.26 and 36.1±2.11 after extubation and after three days, respectively. While the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) of Acapella was 39.4±2.55 and 37.5±3.58 after extubation and after three days, respectively. The differences were statistically significant at p-value ≤0.05. Conclusion It was concluded that both Acapella and incentive spirometry treatment after coronary artery bypass graft improved blood gases.