Minimal PTB

Dear Sir/Mam,
I was diagnosed with minimal PTB on October at my left lungs..... the diagnosis says that "ILL-defined opacities are seen on the left upper lung" and i was given 4 or 5 medicines for that... after 3 months, i was given only isoniazid and refampicin as my medications.... I had my x-ray this month after a week of cough and colds and this is the diagnosis:  "few fibrohazed infiltrates are noted on the left upper lung"  My back is aching so much... does this mean that i get worst?  Hope to hear from u soon... thank u very much.....

[National Jewish Health]

You should ask your doctors, what was the basis for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB)?  Was it just x-ray findings, perhaps combined with a positive TB skin test?  Or was it on the basis of positive sputum cultures?  That you were given 4 to 5 medicines strongly suggests that you may have had positive cultures and that the TB organisms were either nontuberculous mycobacterium or multi-drug resistant.  In either case the key questions should be:  1) are the x-ray findings better or worse?, your description suggests better; and 2) are recent sputum cultures negative?

Your back pain may be from harsh coughing in association with your recent cough and cold.  Such hard coughing can even fracture one’s ribs.  Your aching back is unlikely to be related to the left lung infiltrates, unless there is some reason to suspect TB outside of the lung, in this case to bone.  Your doctors may want to do x-rays or other imaging of the site of your back pain.  That is the most serious thing that could be happening.  If you have not seen a specialist in the treatment of TB, you should, especially if your problem is multi-drug resistant TB.  If there is any question regarding this, you should contact your state’s division of infection control, for further advice.

Good luck.

[empty26]

what  about treatment of PTB MINIMAL and assume dis cause

[nolz]

A related discussion, minimal ptb was started.

[Korki]

A related discussion, minimal PTB was started.