Abstract
Haemorheological changes in response to therapy have not been fully determined in pulmonary tuberculosis patients living in developing countries. This study was aimed at monitoring haemorheological parameters in newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients undergoing therapy. Haemorheological parameters were studied in 40 tuberculosis patients (17 males and 23 females, mean age 33.4±1.4 years, range 23–45 years) undergoing treatment and 10 newly diagnosed patients (5 males and 5 females mean age 33.0±2.1 years) along with 50 apparently healthy controls age and sex matched. There were significantly lower packed cell volume (PCV), platelet count (PC), and total white blood cell count (p<0.0001). Whole blood viscosity (WBV), plasma viscosity (PV), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and plasma fibrinogen (PF) were significantly higher in pulmonary tuberculosis patients than controls (p<0.0001). The packed cell volume was significantly increased by the 8th week of therapy (p<0.01), there was a significant reduction in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate from the 4th week of therapy (p<0.0001). There was no significant change in blood viscosity by the 4th week of therapy (p>0.05), while the plasma fibrinogen showed significant reduction from the 4th week of therapy till 8th week of therapy (p<0.01 and p<0.0001 respectively). We conclude that thrombocytopaenia, stasis and hyperfibrinogenemia may predispose African PTB patients to bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Haemorheological parameters may be useful indices in assessing response to therapy and drug compliance in pulmonary tuberculosis patients living in developing countries.