Tuberculosis remains a major global health problem. Tuberculosis is one of the leading cause of deaths in developing countries. The present study was conducted to assess risk factors and causes of death in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. A retrospective study was conducted in pulmonary tuberculosis patients admitted in hospital and died during treatment period from 2008 to 2012. Medical records of tuberculosis cases over the 5-year period were reviewed and death data were analyzed. Of total 2648 cases initiated on anti-TB treatment, 223 cases (8.42%) were died during treatment. Risk factors in patients who died due to pulmonary tuberculosis were: alcoholism, HIV, baseline weight < 30 kgs, smoking, diabetes, chronic renal failure and steroid use. Alcoholism was found as significant risk factor in 119 (53.36%) patients. Of the 223 deaths, 201deaths (90.13%) due to pulmonary tuberculosis and 22 (9.86%) deaths were due to other than tuberculosis. Bilateral extensive pulmonary tuberculosis was the cause of death in 163 cases (73.09%). Out of 223 deaths, 188 (84.30%) deaths occurred within 2 months of therapy due to tuberculosis. Overall, alcoholism and late presentation both contributed substantially to the mortality in this cohort. active case finding can reduce tuberculosis mortality rate by earlier case detection and treatment. 

Keywords: Pulmonary tuberculosis; Risk factor; Mortality; Cause of death.