cefotaxime and Leukemia--Myeloid

Fifty patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia were treated by random allocation with either ceftazidime alone or a combination of piperacillin, netilmicin and cefotaxime for 65 febrile neutropenic episodes. Nineteen of 33 patient episodes (58%) responded to ceftazidime alone compared with 21 of 32 episodes (66%) treated with the combination. There was one infective death in a patient given the combination; rates of documented superinfection were low. The treatment groups appeared identical in terms of patient demography, underlying disease and other risk factors, though patients with a clinical site of infection responded more slowly than those without. Bacteraemia per se did not appear to influence outcome. Bactericidal serum concentrations greater than or equal to 8 X the minimum bactericidal concentration were predictive of a rapid response (within 4 days) to antibiotics. Furthermore, serum from patients treated with ceftazidime maintained adequate cidal activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa for longer than that obtained from patients treated with the three-drug combination. Ceftazidime was shown to be a safe and effective alternative to the three-drug combination for the initial management of febrile neutropenic episodes in leukaemic patients.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Bacterial Infections; Cefotaxime; Ceftazidime; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Humans; Leukemia; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Leukemia, Myeloid; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Male; Middle Aged; Netilmicin; Neutropenia; Penicillin Resistance; Piperacillin; Random Allocation; Sepsis

Infected patients with hematological disorders were treated with the combination of cefmenoxime (CMX) and cefsulodin (CFS). This therapy was done on 74 patients, of whom 38 (51%) had acute myelocytic leukemia, 14 (19%) malignant lymphoma, 7 (9%) acute lymphocytic leukemia, 5 aplastic anemia, 4 adult T cell leukemia, 4 chronic myelocytic leukemia, 1 multiple myeloma and 1 histiocytic medullary reticulosis. Complicated infections included 5 cases of septicemia, 41 cases of suspected septicemia, 19 cases of respiratory tract infection, 2 with anal abscess, 1 with urinary tract infection and others. The obtained results were as follows: Clinical effectiveness of the combination therapy was excellent in 17 cases (23.0%), good in 24 (32.4%) and poor in 33 (44.6%). Total clinical efficacy rate was 55.4%. Clinical efficacy rate was 40% against septicemias, 51.2% against suspected septicemias and 57.9% against respiratory tract infections. Causative pathogens were isolated in only 21 cases (28.4%): Gram-positive bacteria in 9 cases, Gram-negative bacteria in 11 and fungus in 1. About half of the Gram-negative bacteria belonged to Pseudomonas sp. The efficacy rate of this combination therapy against Gram-negative bacterial infections was 72.7% but the rate against Gram-positive bacterial infections were only 33.3%. Only in 1 case, this combination therapy was discontinued because of drug eruption. Abnormal laboratory findings were observed in 5 cases: Elevation of BUN in 3, GOT and GPT in 1 and prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time in 1. In conclusion, this combination therapy of CMX and CFS is useful and safe against infections complicated by hematological disorders.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anemia, Aplastic; Bacterial Infections; Cefmenoxime; Cefotaxime; Cefsulodin; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Hematologic Diseases; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Leukemia, Myeloid; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Lymphoma; Male; Middle Aged; T-Lymphocytes