Case Study TB
Case Study TB
Maria is a 42-year-old single mother living in New York City with her three sons. She immigrated to New York from Peru two years ago. About six months after she arrived, she began developing night sweats and unexplained fevers. Most recently, she has developed a persistent, worsening cough. Her illegal status has made her hesitant to seek medical treatment, but a neighbor told her that the local community clinic would see her and would not check her residency status.
Screening at the clinic included a questionnaire that addressed some of the problems she was experiencing. The nurse explained to Maria that she might have TB. The physician treating Maria performed a complete physical exam and discussed her questionnaire responses with her, including her response that in Peru, she lived with her grandfather who she believes may have died from TB.
Physical exam findings showed abnormal lung sounds in Maria’s upper lobes bilaterally. The physician found cervical and axial lymphadenopathy. Maria was asked to leave sputum samples to be tested for mycobacterium tuberculosis. A PPD was placed with instructions for Maria to return in two days to have it read. When Maria returned two days later, the result showed a 10 mm raised, red reactive site. Maria was also screened for HIV at the time of initial exam because it is often found in patients with TB. In this case, she tested negative for HIV. Her sputum culture tested positive for M. tuberculosis.
The physician explained that given the findings on the chest x-ray and the clinical findings on exam, he believed that she had reactivation TB. The physician informed Maria that he planned to start her on a four-drug regimen of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (Myambutol) for two months. The physician then explained that a “continuation phase” would follow, which would consist of isoniazid and a rifamycin (rifampin, rifabutin [Mycobutin], or rifapentine [Priftin]) that is administered daily for four to seven months. He also informed her that he would start her treatment at the hospital, where she would stay for least two days because she was still considered contagious. Following the hospital stay, Maria would need to come to the clinic for observed medication administration and to assure compliance.
Two months passed and Maria continued about her day-to-day life including going to the clinic for her medication. She attempted to work full time and to take care of her three sons. She found that her night sweats had become a nightly occurrence, and her cough had become productive with blood along with intense coughing spells. Maria was compliant with the drug regimen but called the clinic because her symptoms were worsening. Maria was scheduled for a visit the very next day.
The follow up chest x-ray showed no improvement, and it was determined that Maria was exhibiting signs of multidrug-resistant TB. Because multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis requires at least 18 to 24 months of therapy, depending on the patient’s response to treatment, the physician decided to extend her therapy to 18 months, beyond the 4 to 7 month time period he had projected. He also stopped the ethambutol and started moxifloxacin. Thoracic surgery for resection of lung lesions is often considered as adjunctive therapy, and this was discussed with Maria at the time of the exam.
Maria was devastated to learn about her multidrug resistant TB because she needed to work. Fortunately, the clinic was able to fund Maria’s drugs at a discounted rate. Nonetheless, the entire situation has put Maria under stress to the point that it is unclear how she will meet this challenge and adequately handle her health crisis.
