Ambulatory Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

A Clinical Evaluation of 1684 Patients

¹ Director, Tuberculosis Clinica, Boston Health Department
² Tuberculosis Branch, U. S. Public Health Service
³ Health Commissioner, Boston, 1962-1965
⁴ Director, Division of Alcoholism, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Nine years' experience in the ambulatory treatment of tuberculosis at the Boston Health Department is reviewed. There are 3,859 patients being followed up in our clinics, of whom 1,684 have been evaluated. Attendance records reveal that 88 per cent of patients are seen with regularity throughout their course of therapy. Sixty-one per cent of our sample have been followed up for three or more years. Analysis of chest x-ray films revealed that 92 per cent remained stable or showed improvement. Our percentage of relapses was 4.9 per cent Resistant organisms were identified in 1.7 per cent. These statistics compare favorably with the published data of Chaves et al.⁴ To this date, in our group of 850 children on isoniazid prophylaxis, no active clinical case of tuberculosis has been found. The case and death rates of the City of Boston have declined by more than one-third since 1955, when out-patient therapy was provided to all persons, regardless of their type of medical discharge from hospitals.