Kwon YS, et al. Tuberc Respir Dis. 2019 Jan;82(1):15-26. https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2018.0060

Kwon YS, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2016 May;31(5):649-659. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.5.649

Relatively little is known about the efficacy and safety of the programmatic use of bedaquiline and delamanid in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment.This study evaluated 61 patients with MDR-TB treated with bedaquiline (n=39), delamanid (n=11) or both, either sequentially (n=10) or in coadministration (n=1), for >1 month, combined with a World Health Organization-recommended regimen.Of these, 49 (80.3%) were male and 12 (19.7%) were female. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) age was 53 (38.5–61.0) years. 42 (68.9%) patients had fluoroquinolone-resistant MDR-TB and 16 (26.2%) had extensively drug-resistant TB. The median (IQR) duration of treatment with bedaquiline and/or delamanid was 168 (166.5–196.5) days, with 33 (54.1%) receiving linezolid for a median (IQR) of 673 (171–736) days. Of the 55 patients with positive sputum cultures at the start of bedaquiline and/or delamanid treatment, 39 (70.9%) achieved sputum culture conversion within a median of 119 days. Treatment was halted in four patients (6.6%) because of prolonged Fridericia's corrected QT interval.Bedaquiline and delamanid were effective and safe for treating MDR-TB, with initial evidence of sequential administration of these two drugs as a viable treatment strategy for patients when an adequate treatment regimen cannot be constructed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes between older and younger tuberculosis (TB) patients in Korea.

Kwon YS, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2014 Sep;29(9):1226-1231. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.9.1226