Browsing by Author "Cox, Helen"

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    Bedaquiline microheteroresistance after cessation of tuberculosis treatment
    (Massachusetts Medical Society, 2019-05-30) De Vos, Margaretha; Wiggins, Kristin B.; Derendinger, Brigitta; Reuter, Anja; Dolby, Tania; Burns, Scott; Schito, Marco; Engelthaler, David M.; Metcalfe, John; Theron, Grant; Van Rie, Annelies; Posey, James; Warren, Rob; Cox, Helen
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bedaquiline improves survival among persons with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).1 We report the case of a 65-year-old South African man who was negative for human immunodeficiency virus and in whom MDR-TB was diagnosed in 2013 (resistant to rifampin and isoniazid; phenotypically susceptible to a fluoroquinolone and amikacin). A baseline radiograph showed changes consistent with bilateral tuberculosis with left apex cavitation. He started standardized treatment that included moxifloxacin, pyrazinamide, kanamycin, ethionamide, isoniazid, and terizidone. After initial sputum culture conversion (at month 3) and clinical improvement, the patient again became culture-positive, and bilateral cavitation developed. After detection of phenotypic resistance to fluoroquinolones (at month 6), his treatment was revised (at month 8) to include high-dose isoniazid, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, terizidone, linezolid, paraaminosalicylic acid, and kanamycin (Figure 1 and the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org). Bedaquiline was added 22 days later and was administered for 6 months.2 The patient remained culture-positive (treatment failure), and treatment was stopped 15 months after revision of the regimen. The patient died 7 months later.
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    Effect of Xpert MTB/RIF on clinical outcomes in routine care settings : individual patient data meta-analysis
    (Elsevier, 2019-02) Di Tanna, Gian Luca; Khaki, Ali Raza; Theron, Grant; McCarthy, Kerrigan; Cox, Helen; Mupfumi, Lucy; Trajman, Anete; Mason, Peter; Bandason, Tsitsi; Durovni, Betina; Bara, Wilbert; Hoelscher, Michael; Clowes, Petra; Mangu, Chacha; Chanda, Duncan; Pym, Alexander; Mwaba, Peter; Cobelens, Frank; Nicol, Mark P.; Dheda, Keertan; Churchyard, Gavin; Fielding, Katherine; Metcalfe, John Z.
    Background: Xpert MTB/RIF, the most widely used automated nucleic acid amplification test for tuberculosis, is available in more than 130 countries. Although diagnostic accuracy is well documented, anticipated improvements in patient outcomes have not been clearly identified. We performed an individual patient data meta-analysis to examine improvements in patient outcomes associated with Xpert MTB/RIF. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry from inception to Feb 1, 2018, for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the use of Xpert MTB/RIF with sputum smear microscopy as tests for tuberculosis diagnosis in adults (aged 18 years or older). We excluded studies of patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, and studies in which mortality was not assessed. We used a two-stage approach for our primary analysis and a one-stage approach for the sensitivity analysis. To assess the primary outcome of cumulative 6-month all-cause mortality, we first performed logistic regression models (random effects for cluster randomised trials, with robust SEs for multicentre studies) for each trial, and then pooled the odds ratio (OR) estimates by a fixed-effects (inverse variance) or random-effects (Der Simonian Laird) meta-analysis. We adjusted for age and gender, and stratified by HIV status and previous tuberculosis-treatment history. The study protocol has been registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42014013394. Findings Our search identified 387 studies, of which five RCTs were eligible for analysis. 8567 adult clinic attendees (4490 [63·5%] of 7074 participants for whom data were available were HIV-positive) were tested for tuberculosis with Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert group) versus sputum smear microscopy (sputum smear group), across five low-income and middle-income countries (South Africa, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Tanzania). The primary outcome (reported in three studies) occurred in 182 (4·5%) of 4050 patients in the Xpert group and 217 (5·3%) of 4093 patients in the smear group (pooled adjusted OR 0·88, 95% CI 0·68–1·14 [p=0·34]; for HIV-positive individuals OR 0·83, 0·65–1·05 [p=0·12]). Kaplan-Meier estimates showed a lower rate of death (12·73 per 100 person-years in the Xpert group vs 16·38 per 100 person-years in the sputum smear group) for HIV-positive patients (hazard ratio 0·76, 95% CI 0·60–0·97; p=0·03). The risk of bias was assessed as reasonable and the statistical heterogeneity across studies was low (I²<20% for the primary outcome). Interpretation Despite individual patient data analysis from five RCTs, we were unable to confidently rule in nor rule out an Xpert MTB/RIF-associated reduction in mortality among outpatients tested for tuberculosis. Reduction in mortality among HIV-positive patients in a secondary analysis suggests the possibility of population-level impact.
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    Multidrug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis treatment regimens and patient outcomes : an individual patient data meta-analysis of 9,153 patients
    (Public Library of Science, 2012-08-28) Ahuja, Shama D.; Ashkin, David; Avendano, Monika; Banerjee, Rita; Bauer, Melissa; Bayona, Jamie N.; Becerra, Mercedes C.; Benedetti, Andrea; Burgos, Marcos; Centis, Rosella; Chan, Eward D.; Chiang, Chen-Yuan; Cox, Helen; D'Ambrosio, Lia; DeRiemer, Kathy; Dung, Nguyen Huy; Enarson, Donald; Falzon, Dennis; Flanagan, Katherine; Flood, Jennifer; Garcia-Garcia, Maria L.; Ghandi, Neel; Granich, Reuben M.; Hollm-Delgado, Maria G.; Holtz, Timothy H.; Iseman, Michael D.; Jarlsberg, Leah G.; Keshavjee, Salmaan; Kim, Hye-Ryoun; Koh, Won-Jung; Lancaster, Joey; Lange,Christophe; Lange, Wiel C. M. de; Leimane, Vaira; Leung, Chi Chiu; Li, Jiehui; Menzies, Dick; Migliori, Giovanni B.; Mishustin, Sergey P.; Mitnick, Carole D.; Narita, Masa; O'Riordan, Philly; Pai, Madhukar; Palmero, Domingo; Park, Seung-kyu; Pasvol, Geoffrey; Pena, Jose; Perez-Guzman, Carlos; Quelapio, Maria I. D.; Ponce-De-Leon, Alfredo; Riekstina, Vija; Robert, Jerome; Royce, Sarah; Schaaf, H. Simon; Seung, Kwonjune J.; Shah, Lena; Shim, Tae Sun; Shin, Sonya S.; Shiraishi, Yuji; Sifuentes-Osornio, Jose; Sotgiu, Giovanni; Strand, Matthew J.; Tabarsi, Payam; Tupasi, Thelma E.; Altena, Robert van; Van der Walt, Martie; Werf, Tjip S. van der; Vargas, Mario H.; Viiklepp, Pirett; Westenhouse, Janice; Yew, Wing Wai; Yim, Jae-Joon
    Background: Treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is lengthy, toxic, expensive, and has generally poor outcomes. We undertook an individual patient data meta-analysis to assess the impact on outcomes of the type, number, and duration of drugs used to treat MDR-TB. Methods and Findings: Three recent systematic reviews were used to identify studies reporting treatment outcomes of microbiologically confirmed MDR-TB. Study authors were contacted to solicit individual patient data including clinical characteristics, treatment given, and outcomes. Random effects multivariable logistic meta-regression was used to estimate adjusted odds of treatment success. Adequate treatment and outcome data were provided for 9,153 patients with MDR-TB from 32 observational studies. Treatment success, compared to failure/relapse, was associated with use of: later generation quinolones, (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.5 [95% CI 1.1–6.0]), ofloxacin (aOR: 2.5 [1.6–3.9]), ethionamide or prothionamide (aOR: 1.7 [1.3–2.3]), use of four or more likely effective drugs in the initial intensive phase (aOR: 2.3 [1.3–3.9]), and three or more likely effective drugs in the continuation phase (aOR: 2.7 [1.7–4.1]). Similar results were seen for the association of treatment success compared to failure/relapse or death: later generation quinolones, (aOR: 2.7 [1.7–4.3]), ofloxacin (aOR: 2.3 [1.3–3.8]), ethionamide or prothionamide (aOR: 1.7 [1.4–2.1]), use of four or more likely effective drugs in the initial intensive phase (aOR: 2.7 [1.9–3.9]), and three or more likely effective drugs in the continuation phase (aOR: 4.5 [3.4–6.0]). Conclusions: In this individual patient data meta-analysis of observational data, improved MDR-TB treatment success and survival were associated with use of certain fluoroquinolones, ethionamide, or prothionamide, and greater total number of effective drugs. However, randomized trials are urgently needed to optimize MDR-TB treatment.
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    Population structure of mixed Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is strain genotype and culture medium dependent
    (Public Library of Science, 2013-07-30) Hanekom, Madeleine; Streicher, Elizabeth M.; Van de Berg, Doreen; Cox, Helen; McDermid, Cheryl; Bosman, Marlein; Gey van Pittius, Nicolaas C.; Victor, Tommie C.; Kidd, Martin; Van Soolingen, Dick; Van Helden, Paul D.; Warren, Robin M.
    Background Molecular genotyping methods have shown infection with more than one Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain genotype in a single sputum culture, indicating mixed infection. Aim This study aimed to develop a PCR-based genotyping tool to determine the population structure of M. tuberculosis strain genotypes in primary Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tubes (MGIT) and Löwenstein–Jensen (LJ) cultures to identify mixed infections and to establish whether the growth media influenced the recovery of certain strain genotypes. Method A convenience sample of 206 paired MGIT and LJ M. tuberculosis cultures from pulmonary tuberculosis patients resident in Khayelitsha, South Africa were genotyped using an in-house PCR-based method to detect defined M. tuberculosis strain genotypes. Results The sensitivity and specificity of the PCR-based method for detecting Beijing, Haarlem, S-family, and LAM genotypes was 100%, and 75% and 50% for detecting the Low Copy Clade, respectively. Thirty-one (15%) of the 206 cases showed the presence of more than one M. tuberculosis strain genotype. Strains of the Beijing and Haarlem genotypes were significantly more associated with a mixed infection (on both media) when compared to infections with a single strain (Beijing MGIT p = 0.02; LJ, p<0.01) and (Haarlem: MGIT p<0.01; LJ, p = 0.01). Strains with the Beijing genotype were less likely to be with “other genotype” strains (p<0.01) while LAM, Haarlem, S-family and LCC occurred independently with the Beijing genotype. Conclusion The PCR-based method was able to identify mixed infection in at least 15% of the cases. LJ media was more sensitive in detecting mixed infections than MGIT media, implying that the growth characteristics of M. tuberculosis on different media may influence our ability to detect mixed infections. The Beijing and Haarlem genotypes were more likely to occur in a mixed infection than any of the other genotypes tested suggesting pathogen-pathogen compatibility.