A recent study in Peru, led by researchers from Brown University in the United States, has concluded that adolescent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) survivors have poorer lung function and greater disability than their uninfected peers for up to two years after finishing their treatment, reports CIDRAP News, highlighting the need for continued assessments beyond their treatment completion.
For their research, the team used lung-function tests and the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) to twice evaluate the lung health of 101 formerly infected participants aged 10 to 19 in Lima, Peru, who were successfully treated for TB. They compared the results with those of 101 matched uninfected controls.
TB survivors with abnormal lung function underwent chest computed tomography (CT) from March 2022 to September 2023, and the investigators modelled changes in lung function and disability for two years post-treatment.
Dedicated post-TB lung disease studies among adolescents are important because their bodies differ from those of adults. “Even if adolescents have adult-type TB, puberty-related immune changes may modify their risk and clinical phenotype of post-TB lung disease, which is likely to stem from inflammatory response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis,” the authors wrote. “Moreover, adolescent lungs grow in gas exchange surface area and airway size until, approximately, the age of 20.”
Need for post-treatment assessment
Compared with controls, TB survivors had less favourable forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced vital capacity, total airway resistance (R5), small airway resistance (R5-20), and reactance area (AX).
Over the study period, AX, R5, and R5-20 improved for survivors but were still worse than those of controls. Survivors also had persistently greater respiratory disability. The chest CTs of TB survivors revealed architectural distortion (86.1%), reticular (mesh-like) patterns (80.6%), nodules (55.6%), and bronchiectasis (irreversible widening, scarring, and inflammation of the bronchial tubes; 47.2%).
“Adolescent TB survivors experience persistent, symptomatic chronic lung disease despite bacteriological cure,” the authors wrote. “Our findings highlight the need for respiratory assessments beyond treatment completion.”
Study details
Post-TB Lung Disease in Adolescents in Lima, Peru
Silvia Chiang, Savvas Andronikou, Betsabe Roman Sinche et al.
Published in Paediatrics on 23 June 2026
Objective
Few studies have described long-term respiratory sequelae of adolescent (people aged 10–19 tuberculosis (TB) survivors. We hypothesised that compared with healthy adolescents with no history of TB, survivors of adolescent pulmonary TB have greater respiratory impairment (reduced lung function) and disability (symptoms and activity limitations).
Methods
In this prospective cohort study in Lima, Peru, we used spirometry, oscillometry, and the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) to evaluate, on two separate occasions, the lung health of adolescents successfully treated for pulmonary TB and matched healthy controls. TB survivors with abnormal lung function underwent chest computed tomography (CT). Using mixed-effects regression with an interaction term for time since treatment completion and random effects for individual and matched pairs, we modelled changes in lung function and disability over 24 months from treatment completion, comparing findings between TB survivors and controls.
Results
Compared with 101 controls (median age 17, 56% male), 101 TB survivors (median age 18, 56% male) had less favourable forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced vital capacity, total airway resistance (R5), small airway resistance (R5-20), and reactance area (AX). Over the study period, AX, R5, and R5-20 improved for TB survivors but remained worse than controls. TB survivors had persistently greater respiratory disability (measured by SGRQ). Chest CTs of TB survivors demonstrated architectural distortion, reticular patterns, nodules, and bronchiectasis.
Conclusion
Adolescent TB survivors experience persistent, symptomatic chronic lung disease despite bacteriological cure. Our findings highlight the need for respiratory assessments beyond treatment completion.
Paediatrics article – Post-TB Lung Disease in Adolescents in Lima, Peru (Open access)
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