https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9200-6180
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Dominik Zenner, Adrian R Martineau, Tuberculosis: an under-recognized cause of COPD? Solving the post-TB lung disease puzzle, one piece at a time, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 54, Issue 2, April 2025, dyaf033, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaf033
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Tuberculosis (TB) has affected humans for millennia, but surprisingly, interest in post-TB lung disease (PTLD) has only gained traction relatively recently. Almost 3000 peer-reviewed papers on this topic have been published to date, of which more than two-thirds have emerged in the last 15 years. Most studies are descriptive and phenomenological in nature, including systematic reviews describing radiological features of PTLD [1], and associated impacts on lung function [2] and quality of life [3]. Using this evidence, Menzies et al. [4] have recalculated the lifetime burden of disease of TB, concluding that almost half of the total disability-adjusted life years arising from this condition accrue after completion of TB treatment.
Recent conferences and consensus statements have significantly raised awareness of PTLD [5, 6], but significant research gaps remain in our understanding of pathogenesis and risk factors for PTLD. Disease-modifying treatments have yet to be identified, and despite enthusiastic recommendations of pulmonary rehabilitation [5–7], questions regarding its best target population, modalities, logistics, and length remain. In brief, we need to understand more about who gets PTLD and why, what forms it can take, and how it can best be prevented, treated, or supported. It is worth noting that a large part of the first PTLD conference was dedicated to agreeing basic definitions [5].
