• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2001

Purpose : Lymphadenitis is the most common complication of BCG vaccination and has various clinical course and prognosis, but there are no accurate guidelines for management of BCG lymphadenitis. We performed this study to reveal the clinical course of BCG lymphadenitis and provide guidelines for its management. Methods : From January, 1997, to May, 2000, 73 patients in the 3~24 months were enrolled. We investigated retrospectively the size, site, and number of lymphadenitis, tuberculin skin test induration, used BCG strains, vaccination age, injection site, treatment and clinical course. The effects of various variables on clinical course were evaluated. Results : 1) There were no statistically significant difference between lymphadenitis size and tuberculin test induration diameter, spontaneous resolution rate, and suppuration rate. 2) Later vaccination(${\geq}1$ mo) and supraclavicular lymphadenitis increased suppuration rate. Using domestic BCG product increased surgical treatment rate. 3) According to treatment(observation vs antituberculous medication), medication did not affect the prevention of suppuration and ironically increased the rate of suppuration and surgical treatment. 4) Suppurative lymphadenitis required more surgical treatment than non-supurative one. Conclusions : Clinical course of BCG lymphadenitis is affected by vaccination age, used BCG strains, site of lymphadenitis, antituberculous medication and suppuration, but not affected by size and number of lymphadenitis. For management of BCG lymphadenitis, systemic antituberculous medicaion is not recommended and regular follow up with observation should be the mainstay. But for suppuration, active surgical en bloc resection should be the treatment of choice.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.473-483
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• 2001

Background : There are only a few studies regarding the causes of treatment failure for tuberculosis. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the causes of intractable tuberculosis. Methods : M. tuberculosis, differentiated MOTT (Mycobacterium Other Than Tuberculosis) were isolated, and the RFLP (Restriction fragments length polymorphisms) pattern was analyzed from 204 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and 53 suffering from neck tuberculosis. The IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-12, $^*1\;IFN{\gamma}$ and $^*2\;TNF{\alpha}$ blood levels were measured. All patients were regularly followed for 18 months after treatment. Results : There was no correlation between the RFLP patterns of M. tuberculosis treatment failure. From the 204 cases, 31.9% were intractable. The characteristics of patients with intractable tuberculosis were old age, being male and recurrent cases. The causes of treatment failure were identified as follows ; a decrease in the IL-12(59.4%) concentration, drug resistant strain(54.7%), irregular medication(15.4%), MOTT(6.2%) and a heavy infection(4.6%). The causes of all cases of intractable tuberculosis could be investigated. The IL-12 concentration in the blood was significantly lower in the intractable cases, where it disclosed a maximum sensitivity(64.7%) and specificity(75.4%) at 165.0 pg/mL. Most of the 53 cases of neck node tuberculosis were treated successfully. Therefore, we were unable to analyze the cause of treatment failure. Conclusion : A decrease in the blood IL-12 concentration and drug resistant strains were identified as the most significant causes of treatment failure for tuberculosis. In Korea, infection by clusters were prevalent, but no difference in the clinical course between clusters and non-clusters could be found.