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Can Pulmonary Tuberculosis Be Cured Completely?
iam a mother of a newly diagnosed ptb case it shows in his chest xray taht he positive of ptb and still waiting for his sputum result he is 26 years old , heavy smokers and sleep very late maybe 3 am in morning and wake up at 1pm. his doctor said right after the sputum result he may start his medication for 6 months! may question sir is he going to be totally cured of his illness? what could be the possible xray result if in case hes is totally cured of it? what i mean sir will it shows in his chest x ray that he is a post ptb case and the scar in his lungs will not be erase and be forever in his xray result? thank you sir!
Mon, 15 Feb 2016
Hello and welcome to HCM,
Paucibacillary tuberculosis (PTB) can be treated with anti-tubercular treatment (ATT).
A positive sputum for tubercle bacilli and findings on X-ray chest are confirmatory of tuberculosis.
Once tuberculosis is diagnosed, ATT for 6 months will be started and the infections can be cured completely if the compliance for the drugs is good.
Follow up will be done with X-ray chest and sputum test.
A negative sputum test and clear X-ray chest shows cure of disease.
Tuberculosis of lung is accompanied by fibrosis of lung parenchyma.
The fibrotic bands can persist in lung parenchyma but with the cure in disease, the band become quite faint.
Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri
Paucibacillary tuberculosis (PTB) can be treated with anti-tubercular treatment (ATT).
A positive sputum for tubercle bacilli and findings on X-ray chest are confirmatory of tuberculosis.
Once tuberculosis is diagnosed, ATT for 6 months will be started and the infections can be cured completely if the compliance for the drugs is good.
Follow up will be done with X-ray chest and sputum test.
A negative sputum test and clear X-ray chest shows cure of disease.
Tuberculosis of lung is accompanied by fibrosis of lung parenchyma.
The fibrotic bands can persist in lung parenchyma but with the cure in disease, the band become quite faint.
Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri
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