[Respiratory failure in pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae]

Abstract

Patients with respiratory failure based on pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae are second in number among some fifty thousand patients receiving home oxygen therapy in Japan. Its 5 year survival rate is 47% in man and 56% in woman. The prognosis is better in woman than in man and may be dependent, at least partially, on younger age in woman. The influence of arterial blood gases on the prognosis is quite different between tuberculosis sequelae and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: PaO2 scarcely influence the prognosis while higher PaCO2 is beneficial for tuberculosis sequelae. Patients with hypercapnia have better nutrition as estimated by serum albumin and this fact may cause the longer survival. Pulmonary hypertension is more frequently observed but is less strongly related to arterial blood gases and ventilatory function in tuberculosis sequelae than chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.