Effect of tuberculosis-HIV co-treatment on clinical and growth outcomes among hospitalized children newly initiating antiretroviral therapy

<bold>Objective: </bold>Evaluate effects of tuberculosis (TB)-HIV co-treatment on clinical and growth outcomes in children with HIV (CHIV). <bold>Design: </bold>Longitudinal study among Kenyan hospitalized ART-naive CHIV in the PUSH trial (NCT02063880). <bold>Methods: </bold>CHIV started ART within 2 weeks of enrollment; Anti-TB therapy was initiated based on clinical and TB diagnostics. Children were followed for 6 months with serial viral load, CD4%, and growth assessments [weight-for-age z -score (WAZ), height-for-age z -score (HAZ), and weight-for-height z -score (WHZ)]. TB-ART treated and ART-only groups were compared at 6 months post-ART for undetectable viral load (<40 c/ml), CD4% change, and growth using generalized linear models, linear regression, and linear mixed-effects models, respectively. <bold>Result: </bold>Among 152 CHIV, 40.8% (62) were TB-ART treated. Pre-ART, median age was 2.0 years and growth was significantly lower, and viral load significantly higher in the TB-ART versus ART-only group. After 6 months on ART, 37.2% of CHIV had undetectable viral load and median CD4% increased by 7.2% (IQR 2.0-11.6%) with no difference between groups. The TB-ART group had lower WAZ and HAZ over 6 month follow-up [WAZ -0.81 (95% CI: -1.23 to -0.38], P < 0.001; HAZ -0.15 (95% CI: -0.29 to -0.01), P = 0.030] and greater rate of WAZ increase in analyses unadjusted and adjusted for baseline WAZ [unadjusted 0.62 (95% CI: 0.18-1.07, P = 0.006) or adjusted 0.58 (95% CI: 0.12-1.03, P = 0.013)]. <bold>Conclusion: </bold>TB-HIV co-treatment did not adversely affect early viral suppression and CD4 (+) recovery post-ART. TB-ART-treated CHIV had more rapid growth reconstitution, but growth deficits persisted, suggesting need for continued growth monitoring.