Updated treatment guidelines for drug-resistant TB: how safe are clofazimine-based regimens?

Abstract

In June 2024, WHO released ‘Key updates to the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis: rapid communication’, after the preliminary publication of results from two clinical trials: ‘BEAT-Tuberculosis’ and ‘endTB’. All proposed regimens include clofazimine (Cfz). However, a recent paper has reported a high incidence of QTc prolongation among patients receiving Cfz-based treatment for multidrug-resistant TB in Taiwan. Here, we discuss the cardiac safety of Cfz and the role of active drug safety monitoring at the programme level in collecting information on this issue.

Keywords

• qtc prolongation
• cfz
• tuberculosis
• mdr-tb
• xdr-tb
• adsm