Fifty patients with gram-negative lower
respiratory tract infections were treated with intravenous
ciprofloxacin to evaluate efficacy and safety. Relationships between individual pharmacokinetics and clinical and bacteriologic outcome were studied.
Ciprofloxacin concentrations in plasma were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Respiratory secretion cultures were obtained daily to determine the eradication day of the infecting organism. Susceptibility (minimum inhibitory concentration) to
ciprofloxacin and other antimicrobials was determined using standard microdilution techniques. The mean age of the patients was 70 years. They had multiple underlying diseases, and two thirds of them were
ventilator dependent at entry. Approximately 50% of the patients had failed previous treatment for the same
infections. Patients infected with Enterobacteriaceae or Haemophilus influenzae with minimum inhibitory concentrations of less than 0.25 mg/L responded well to intravenous
ciprofloxacin therapy (200 mg every 12 hours). The organisms were eradicated from sputum cultures usually within 1 day after
ciprofloxacin therapy was started. Most clinical failures occurred in patients who were infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and had multiple underlying diseases. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from 10 patients with
pneumonia, 2 patients with
lung abscess, and 1 patient with
bronchiectasis. The Pseudomonas isolate acquired resistance during
ciprofloxacin treatment in 7 patients with
pneumonia and in all of the remaining 3 patients. We conclude that
ciprofloxacin is safe and effective at a dosage of 200 mg administered intravenously every 12 hours for nosocomial lower
respiratory tract infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae or Haemophilus species. Many patients who had failed previous
antibiotic treatment for
Enterobacteriaceae infections had good clinical response to
ciprofloxacin therapy. Studies using either higher dosages of
ciprofloxacin or combination
therapy should be conducted to determine if acquired resistance can be avoided in
Pseudomonas infections.