Air Space and Bronchi – II

The cost of tuberculosis sequelae

“…Is this a vascular abnormality with a prognostic impact? Perhaps a look at cardiac index might be helpful.For patients with pulmonary hypertension and lung disease, the current statement of the international conference on pulmonary hypertension recommends to separate patients with a predominantly exhausted circulatory or ventilatory reserve [4]. This is difficult in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension and hypoventilation.…”

“…Bronchiectasis is one of the most common sequelae seen in TB patients; the morbidity is reported to be as high as 30-60% in active post-primary patients and 71-86% in patients with inactive disease [2,4]. Furthermore, depending on the survival status of patients, the inpatient cost of treating bronchiectasis in the USA can be as high as J393 872 [5].…”

“…Thus, for bronchiectasis, from an economic point of view the question that has to be answered is how many patients with radiological signs of bronchiectasis simultaneously suffer from chronic lung disorders, characterised by cough, sputum production and recurrent respiratory infections and/or frequently associated chronic obstructive lung disease? The latter group of patients seems to differ from other patients with bronchiectasis in terms of disease severity, more frequent detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other potential pathogenic microorganisms, more frequent exacerbations and increased mortality [3][4][5]. However, the major burden of clinically manifest bronchiectasis may be managed in the outpatient setting by primary care physicians and pulmonologists in private practice and, thus, neither the prevalence of bronchiectasis in general nor TB-induced bronchiectasis is accurately known.…”