Aztreonam plus vancomycin versus gentamicin plus piperacillin as empirical therapy for the treatment of fever in neutropenic patients: a randomised controlled study

Empirical antimicrobial treatment for chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia

Febrile neutropenia in immunocompromised hosts is associated with a high mortality. Empirical treatment in such cases is instituted to cover the common pathogens. Generally, combination antibiotic treatment is used early in the febrile neutropenia phase. Recent studies demonstrate that monotherapy with certain beta-lactam antibiotics can be equally effective. Glycopeptide antibiotics are used in the absence of an adequate response to the initial antibiotics. Empirical antifungal therapy may be given if fever does not settle in 72-96 h despite antibiotics. Newer antifungal agents have increased the available options for initial antifungal agents though more data are needed before any conclusive recommendation can be made. Recent changes in the epidemiology of multiresistant organisms necessitate local microbiological input into empiric policies with increasing need to consider cover for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, glycopeptide intermediate S. aureus, vancomycin-resistant S. aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Gram-negative bacilli that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and multi-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii.

Role of glycopeptides as part of initial empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

We did a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials studying glycopeptides as part of the initial empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients with a beta-lactam and with or without an aminoglycoside. 14 randomised controlled trials that studied 2413 patients were included in the analysis. A better outcome regarding treatment success, without modification of the initial regimen, was accomplished with the inclusion of a glycopeptide in the empirical therapy; this better outcome applied to the full set of studied patients (OR=1.63, 95% CI 1.17-2.28), as well as in three important subsets of patients--those with microbiologically documented infections (2.03, 1.39-2.97), patients with bacteraemia (1.80, 1.23-2.63), and patients with severe neutropenia, defined as a white blood cell count below 100 cells/microL (2.24, 1.15-4.39). However, mortality was not different in the compared groups (0.67, 0.42-1.05). Overall treatment success was not different if a glycopeptide was added to the antimicrobial regimen in the case of continuation of fever 72 hours or more after the start of treatment (1.02, 0.68-1.52). Also, the inclusion of a glycopeptide in the empirical regimen did not lead to a difference regarding time to defervesence. Adverse effects (4.98, 2.91-8.55), including nephrotoxicity (2.10, 1.12-3.95), were more common in the group receiving a glycopeptide as part of the empirical treatment. In conclusion, our meta-analysis suggests that there are good reasons why glycopeptides should not be routinely used as part of the initial empirical treatment of febrile neutropenic patients.

A comparison of aztreonam plus vancomycin and imipenem plus vancomycin as initial therapy for febrile neutropenic cancer patients

BACKGROUND

The improved efficacy of imipenem over other beta-lactam antibiotics in the treatment of febrile neutropenic patients has been attributed to its broad spectrum of activity.

METHODS

A prospective, randomized, clinical trial was performed comparing vancomycin 1 g every 12 hours plus imipenem/cilassatin 500 mg every 6 hours and the same dose of vancomycin plus aztreonam 2 g every 6 hours for empiric treatment of febrile episodes in neutropenic patients with cancer.

RESULTS

The imipenem regimen cured 76% of the 148 evaluable episodes compared with a 67% cure rate for the 152 episodes treated with the aztreonam regimen (p = 0.1). Most of the polymicrobial infections (77% or 10/13) treated with the imipenem responded, whereas only 38% (5/13) of these infections responded to the aztreonam regimen. Although the cost of the imipenem regimen was less than the cost of the aztreonam regimen, it was associated significantly more with skin rashes (12/194 vs 3/189, p = 0.02). In a multivariate analysis, a poor outcome was independently associated in both instances with the persistence of neutropenia and the presence of pneumonia (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, in a multifactorial analysis that included efficacy, toxicity, and cost, the imipenem and aztreonam regimens were comparable.

A comprehensive multi-institutional study of empiric therapy with flomoxef in surgical infections of the digestive organs. The Kyushu Research Group for Surgical Infection

The effect of flomoxef as empiric therapy for surgical infections of the digestive organs was analyzed in 103 patients, most of whom (94.2%) had intra-abdominal infections. Surgical procedures were performed on 73 patients contemporaneously with the flomoxef therapy. Flomoxef is an oxacephem and has a potent and broad bactericidal spectrum against aerobes and anaerobes. It provokes fewer adverse reactions than latamoxef such as vitamin K deficiency and platelet dysfunction. Flomoxef was administered intravenously at a dose 1-4g/day for more than 3 days without any other antimicrobial agent. The clinical response was classified into 3 groups; cured, improved and failed, and both the cured and improved responses were defined as satisfactory. A satisfactory response was obtained in 99 patients (96.1%). Regarding bacteriological response, the overall eradication rate was 81.3%. Adverse reactions including abnormal laboratory data occurred in only two patients. One had abdominal pain, and the other had a mild elevation of transaminases, and both were mild and easily reversible. Therefore, flomoxef is considered to have the potential of becoming one of the most effective agents in empiric therapy for surgical infections of the digestive organs.