Utility of rifampin blood levels in the treatment and follow-up of active pulmonary tuberculosis in patients who were slow to respond to routine directly observed therapy.

Study Objective: The standard daily dose of rifampin in directly observed treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) is 600 mg, taken orally. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of standard dose rifampin therapy in patients who were slow to respond to routine directly observed therapy (DOT).

Methods: Patients with non-drug-resistant pulmonary TB who were receiving 600 mg of oral rifampin by DOT were eligible for inclusion.

Nontubercular mycobacterial pulmonary infection in immunocompetent men.

Background: Nontubercular mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly recognized to cause lung disease in immunocompetent patients. We studied the occurrence of pulmonary infection due to NTM in immunocompetent men.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all sputum mycobacterial cultures at our institution over a 5-year period.