Twenty-four Month Outcomes in the Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS)-1: Defining the "Cure" in Ocular Tuberculosis

Abstract

Purpose To report the clinical findings, anatomical features, and treatment outcomes in subjects with ocular tuberculosis (OTB) at 24 months in the Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS)-1. Methods Of the 945 subjects included in COTS-1, those who completed a 24-month follow-up after completion of treatment were included. The main outcome measure was a number of patients with treatment failure (TF). Results 228 subjects (120 males; mean age of 42.82 +/- 14.73 years) were included. Most common phenotype of uveitis was posterior (n= 81; 35.53%), and panuveitis (n= 76; 33.33%). Fifty-two patients (22.81%) had TF. On univariable analysis, odds of high TF was observed with bilaterality (OR: 3.46,p= .003), vitreous haze (OR: 2.14,p= .018), and use of immunosuppressive therapies (OR: 5.45,p= .003). However, only bilaterality was significant in the multiple regression model (OR: 2.84;p= .02). Conclusions Majority of subjects (>75%) achieved cure in the COTS-1 at 24-month follow-up. The concept of "cure" may be a valuable clinical endpoint in trials for OTB.