Person who completed treatment but whose smear (or culture) results are not complete enough to classify them as cured

Completion of prescribed treatment

Treatment completed without evidence of failure but there is no record that 2 consecutive cultures taken at least 30 days apart are negative in the continuation phase

Category IV patient who has completed treatment according to programme protocol but does not meet the definition for cure because of lack of bacteriological results (i.e. fewer than five cultures were performed in the final 12 months of treatment)

TB patient who completed treatment without evidence of failure BUT with no record to show that sputum smear or culture results in the last month of treatment and on at least one previous occasion were negative, either because tests were not done or because results are unavailable

Assigned to patients who had adequately completed treatment, but had insufficient bacteriologic evidence to conclusively establish cure or failure

MDR-TB patient who has completed treatment according to country protocol but does not meet the definition for cure or treatment failure due to lack of bacteriologic results (i.e., fewer than five cultures were performed in the final 12 months of therapy)

Patient who completed treatment, but for whom smear examination results are not complete enough to classify the patient as cured

Patient who completed treatment but who does not have a negative sputum smear or culture result in the last month of treatment

Patient who completed treatment but who did not meet the criteria to be classified as a cure or a treatment failure. This definition applies to pulmonary smear-positive and smear-negative patients and to patients with extrapulmonary disease

Patient who completed treatment but does not meet the criteria for cure or failure (or after 2 months or more of treatment if initially sputum smear-negative)

Patient for whom there is evidence that treatment was correctly completed, although no negative microbiological results were obtained at the time of treatment suspension. This definition mainly comprises patients who either do not expectorate or from whom samples cannot be obtained (as in the case of extrapulmonary TB)

Treatment completed as recommended by the national policy without evidence of failure BUT no record that three or more consecutive cultures taken at least 30 days apart are negative after the intensive phase (for regimens without a clear distinction between intensive and continuation phases, a cut-off 8 months after the start of treatment is suggested)