Consensus-based recommendations have been developed by a Working Group of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) on uniform reporting of tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcome data in countries in Europe. The main purpose of treatment monitoring is to find out how many of the potential infectious TB patients notified were declared cured at the end of treatment. Following the uniform case definitions as defined in 1996, emphasis is placed on cohort analysis of definite cases of pulmonary TB. The Working Group recommends using a minimal set of six mutually exclusive categories of treatment outcome: cure, treatment completed, failure, death, treatment interrupted, and transfer out. More detailed subsets may be chosen. Treatment outcome is expressed as a percentage of the total number of cases notified. Analysis should be separate for new and retreatment cases. Treatment outcome data have to be collected at the local level and passed on to regional and national authorities on an ongoing basis. Evaluation of treatment results becomes, preferably, an inbuilt component of national monitoring of programme performance. Because of the long duration of treatment, it is recommended that analysis is carried out in the first quarter of the calendar year that follows a full year after the last patient was enrolled. Feedback is essential. Treatment outcome results should become an inseparable part of the annual report on tuberculosis.

No abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is present in the human nasal airways and has been suggested to originate primarily from the paranasal sinuses. The aim of this study was to establish a new and reproducible method for measurement of nasal NO.Through repeated single-breath measurements the intra-and inter-individual variations of NO levels in nasally (into a tightly fitting mask covering the nose) and orally exhaled air were determined in healthy humans. Variations due to the methods used were investigated. The contribution of oral NO to the nasal exhalations by introducing a mouthwash procedure was also studied.This study shows distinct individual values of NO in nasally and orally exhaled air of healthy humans. Some diurnal variability was also found with a rise in NO in nasally and orally exhaled air over the day, but no, or little, day-to-day variability when comparing the results from separate mornings. There was no correlation between NO levels in nasally and orally exhaled air, whereas there was a strong correlation between NO levels in air exhaled through the left and right nostril. The levels of NO in air exhaled at 0.17 L . s -1 through either nostril separately were higher than in air exhaled at the same flow rate through both nostrils simultaneously. After the introduction of a mouthwash procedure the level of NO in orally, but not nasally exhaled air was reduced.To conclude the method using nasal exhalation into a nose mask is highly reproducible. It is also suggested that subtracting the level of NO in orally exhaled air, after mouthwash, from that in nasally exhaled air, would adequately reflect nasal NO levels. Eur Respir J 2000; 16: 236±241.

Prospective randomised study.

III, prospective case-control study.