[Efficacy of clinical follow-up of patients with tuberculosis of the respiratory organs in terms of their cure under present-day epidemiological conditions].

A total of 884 newly detected patients with tuberculosis of the respiratory organs with degradation were followed up for 9 years (1987-1995). Control group consisted of 1419 patients with respiratory tuberculosis without degradation. As a result of treatment, the destruction focus was healed in 3 years in 73.4% patients and bacteria no longer released in 77.4%. Remote results (after 3, 6, and 9 years) indicate that adequate treatment helps attain cure during the second and third year of the follow-up. Untimely transfer of the patients into inactive groups (40.4% after 3 years) leads to early relapses of tuberculosis, and thus groups of chronic patients are formed both among tuberculosis patients with initially detected destruction and without it (4.5 and 2.2%, respectively). The number of clinically cured patients by the end of the ninth year was 56.6 and 77%, respectively; 7.4 and 4.7% patients were still registered in the active groups.