TY - JOUR T1 - <em>To the Editors</em> JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1663 LP - 1664 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00116108 VL - 32 IS - 6 AU - C. C. Leung AU - W. W. Yew Y1 - 2008/12/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/32/6/1663.2.abstract N2 - We read with great interest the recently published informative article by Kim et al. 1 on the prognostic value of nutritional deficit in miliary tuberculosis (TB). Using a nutritional risk score comprising of four factors (low body mass index, hypoalbuminaemia, hypocholesterolaemia and severe lymphocytopenia), the authors demonstrated the independent and major prognostic values of nutritional status on both acute respiratory failure and 90-day mortality among 56 patients with miliary TB 1. However, with the observational nature and retrospective design of the study, it might be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause and effect relationship between nutrition status and TB severity/outcome. Being underweight is a well known factor that predisposes patients … ER -