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Query: UMLS:C0032285 (pneumonia)
 54,520 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We evaluated the efficacy of oral levofloxacin (500mg/day for 7-21 days) in the treatment of 20 adults patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) requiring hospitalization in an open prospective study. The microbiological cause of the pneumonia was identified in 14/20 patients using lower respiratory tract secretions obtained by bronchoscopy (12) and/or blood culture (2). Eight patients had S. pneumoniae, 2 P.aeruginosa, 1 H.influenzae, 1 S.aureus, 1 mixed S. aureus and K.pneumoniae, and 1 E.coli and Grp.D Streptococcus. All of the patients evaluated were judged to be improved or cured. Levofloxacin is an additional option as monotherapy for the treatment of CAP.
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PMID:Oral levofloxacin in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. 1079 70

LEVOFLOXACIN: A new anti-pneumococcal fluoroquinolone, levofloxacin, has received approval in France for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia at the dose of 500 mg once or twice a day, depending on the severity of the disease, the germ susceptibility and the patient's weight. Levofloxacin has a powerful and rapid bactericidal activity, particularly against pneumococci, whatever the level of penicillin resistance. The pharmacokinetic properties of the compound allow once daily dosage. Pharmacodynamically, it has been clinically demonstrated that the most predictive parameter of efficacy is the Cmax/MIC ratio. PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA: Because of the potential gravity of pneumococcal pneumonia, it might be preferrable to use levofloxacin at the dose of 500 mg twice daily. The efficacy of the two levofloxacin doses for the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia was thus analyzed. Five clinical studies including 4 comparative trials, enrolling nearly 2,000 patients with community-acquired pneumonia were reported in the international approval document. Among these patients, 310 had documented pneumococcal pneumonia including 31% with bacteriemia. TASK FORCE REPORT: On the basis of available data, the level of proof is sufficient to prescribe levofloxacin at the dose of 500 mg once daily for the treatment of mild to moderately severe community-acquired pneumonia in ambulatory patients, including those with suspected pneumococcal pneumonia, with or without bacteriemia. It would be reasonable to propose the 500 mg twice daily dosage for severe community-acquired pneumonia warranting intensive care hospitalization in accordance with the criteria of the ERS Task Force Report. The well-founded rationale of this therapeutic strategy should be validated by the results of ongoing studies and by following the evolution of germ susceptibility to these new compounds.
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PMID:[Treatment of community-acquired pneumonia with levofloxacin: 500 mg once a day or 500 mg twice a day?]. 1087 18

A 76-year-old woman who had complained of cough and productive sputum since mid-January, 1999, was admitted to our hospital with fever and dyspnea on February 4, 1999. She had been treated with levofloxacin at an outpatient clinic. On admission, she had orthopnea, and auscultation revealed coarse crackles and wheeze in the bilateral lung fields. Chest x-ray and CT films showed non-segmental infiltration in bilateral lung fields. Laboratory data revealed eosinophilia in peripheral blood (= 24%) and sputum (= 10%), airflow limitation, hypoxemia (PaO2: 46 Torr), and increased airway responsiveness to methacholine (Dmin: 0.127 units). A bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid showed increased total cells and a 55% increase in eosinophils, and CD4/CD8 ratio was decreased to 0.8. In addition, IL-5 was increased in BAL fluid. Transbronchial lung biopsy specimens revealed infiltrations of eosinophils in the alveolar and interstitial compartments. Histological features of the bronchial biopsy specimens included increased eosinophils in the submucosa and goblet cell metaplasia. The woman was diagnosed with eosinophilic pneumonia complicated by bronchial asthma. She was given theophylline, pranlukast hydrate, and an inhaled beta 2 receptor agonist (procaterol hydrochloride), and pre-admission drugs including Levofloxacin were discontinued. Her symptoms were improved, peak expiratory flow rate and PaO2 increased, airway responsiveness to methacholine decreased (Dmin: 0.615 units), and radiographic abnormalities disappeared without steroid therapy. A leukocyte migration test for levofloxacin was weakly positive. An environmental provocation test in the patient's home gave negative results. A challenge test for levofloxacin was not performed due to a lack of informed consent. Based on these findings, we diagnosed this case as levofloxacin-induced lung injury manifesting as eosinophilic pneumonia complicated by bronchial asthma. Levofloxacin should be added to the list of agents that can produce eosinophilic pneumonia.
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PMID:[Levofloxacin-induced eosinophilic pneumonia complicated by bronchial asthma]. 1092 Dec 86

Recently, several new drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections have been developed. Quinupristin/dalfopristin, moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin have been approved throughout the world for clinical use. Levofloxacin has been approved for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia caused by penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pnuemoniae. The Food and Drug Administration has approved linezolid for clinical use, and new drug applications for gemifloxacin and telithromycin were filed. Other new targets have surfaced in the quest for novel antibacterial agents.
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PMID:New approaches in the treatment of bacterial infections. 1095 72

Multiple antibiotic resistance threatens current treatment for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This paper presents a summary of resistance data for Streptococcus pneumoniae (6,223 isolates), Haemophilus influenzae (4,016) and Moraxella catarrhalis (1,263) collected from 153 centers throughout Japan, China, UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil and USA. Antiobiotics tested were: beta-lactams (penicillin, ampicillin, co-amoxiclav, cefuroxime, and ceftriaxone), macrolides (azithromycin and clarithromycin), sulphonamide (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), glycopeptide (vancomycin) and fluoroquinolone (levofloxacin). S. pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to penicillin were predominant in France, Spain and Japan (54-65%), ,beta-lactamase-producing H. influenzae most common in the USA, France and Spain (>25%) and most M. catarrhalis produced beta-lactamase irrespective of origin. S. pneumoniae susceptibility to azithromycin and clarithromycin varied widely. Levofloxacin was active against almost all isolates in all countries and none was resistant to vancomycin. Because of increasing resistance to older drugs, the newer fluoroquinolones have a role in the therapy of CAP and other respiratory infections, although surveillance studies must continue.
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PMID:Resistance in respiratory tract pathogens: an international study 1997-1998. 1113 55

Increasing resistance among the common respiratory pathogens has encouraged assessment of alternative agents, for example, levofloxacin. Unlike earlier quinolones, levofloxacin has excellent activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, including strains resistant to penicillin. Clinical trials show levofloxacin to be as effective as cephalosporins in acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and as effective as co-amoxiclav, cephalosporins or amoxycillin in community-acquired pneumonia. Levofloxacin is rarely associated with serious adverse events. Nausea, diarrhea, headache and rash are the most common adverse events but are observed less frequently than with some other new quinolones.
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PMID:The use of levofloxacin in the treatment of respiratory tract infection. 1113 57

Levofloxacin, the (-)-(S)-enantiomer isolated from the racemate ofloxacin, is launched by Aventis under the trade name of Tavanic. This new oral and parenteral antibiotic belongs to the fluoroquinolone family and exerts a bactericidal activity upon a large spectrum of microorganisms, including Gram negative and Gram positive bacilli (among which Streptococcus pneunomiae), and atypical respiratory pathogens. It also has interesting pharmacokinetic properties. Besides the classical indications of other fluoroquinolones (especially complicated urinary tract infections, including pyelonephritis, and severe skin and soft tissue infections), levofloxacin is indicated for the treatment of acute sinusitis, acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and community-acquired pneumonia.
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PMID:[Pharma-clinics. The drug of the month. Levofloxacin (Tavanic)]. 1119 4

As a class, the quinolone antibacterials can no longer be assumed to be both effective and relatively free of significant adverse effects. Recent safety issues with newer generation fluoroquinolones, and concerns regarding drug-use associated bacterial resistance have made all drugs in this class subject to intense scrutiny and further study. Levofloxacin is a second generation fluoroquinolone with a post marketing history of well tolerated and successful use in a variety of clinical situations. Quinolones as a class cause a variety of adverse effects, including phototoxicity, seizures and other CNS disturbances, tendonitis and arthropathies, gastrointestinal effects, nephrotoxicity, prolonged QTc interval and torsade de pointes, hypo- or hyperglycaemia, and hypersensitivity reactions. Levofloxacin has been involved in only a few case reports of adverse events, which include QTc prolongation, seizures, glucose disturbances, and tendonitis. Levofloxacin has been shown to be effective at dosages of 250mg to 500mg once-daily in clinical trials in the management of acute maxillary sinusitis, acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, community-acquired pneumonia, skin and skin structure infections, and urinary tract infections. There are data suggesting that levofloxacin may promote fluoroquinolone resistance among the Streptococcus pneumoniae, and that clinical failures may result from this therapy. Other data suggest that fluoroquinolones with lower potency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa than ciprofloxacin, such as levofloxacin, may drive class-wide resistance to this pathogen. Levofloxacin is an effective drug in many clinical situations, but its cost is significantly higher than amoxicillin, erythromycin, or first and second generation cefalosporins. Because of the propensity to select for fluoroquinolone resistance in the pneumococcus and potentially other pathogens, levofloxacin should be an alternative agent rather than a drug-of-choice in routine community-acquired respiratory tract, urinary tract, and skin or skin structure infections. In areas with increasing pneumococcal beta-lactam resistance, levofloxacin may be a reasonable empiric therapy in community-acquired respiratory tract infections. Similarly, in patients with risk factors for infectious complications or poor outcome, levofloxacin may be an excellent empiric choice in severe community-acquired respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, complicated skin or skin structure infections, and nosocomial respiratory and urinary tract infections. Better clinical data are needed to identify the true place in therapy of the newer fluoroquinolones in common community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Until then, these agents, including levofloxacin, might best be reserved for complicated infections, infection recurrence, and infections caused by beta-lactam or macrolide-resistant pathogens.
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PMID:A risk-benefit assessment of levofloxacin in respiratory, skin and skin structure, and urinary tract infections. 1134 23

Twice-daily dosing is recommended for ciprofloxacin for most indications. Trovafloxacin and grepafloxacin can be administered once-daily. Levofloxacin should probably be administered twice daily in serious, life-threatening infections. The acquisition cost of ciprofloxacin is currently higher than the newer agents, but a lower acquisition cost does not necessarily mean a lower overall cost of treatment. A cheaper agent which is less effective or safe just shifts costs to other areas by creating further clinical problems with their attendant costs. The total costs associated with treatment with newer agents are as yet undefined. Restricting the prescription of a particular antibiotic may result in the increased use of an alternative regimen which may cost the same or even more than the original ('cost shifting'). This interesting observation needs to be substantiated with future research. Ciprofloxacin is available in both intravenous and oral formulations and suitable for sequential intravenous-oral therapy with its attendant benefits. It is currently the gold-standard quinolone in the hospital setting for a broad range of infections, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Initially, the newer quinolones are most likely to be used to treat severe, community-acquired pneumonia.
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PMID:Cost and dosing issues. 1141 81

Diagnosis of high-risk patients with acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) should include an evaluation of the patient's respiratory function, chest X-ray to exclude pneumonia, and sputum culture. Increasing resistance to amoxicillin, cephalosporins, macrolides, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and doxycycline means that fluoroquinolones are often the only oral empiric treatment available. Levofloxacin, a new respiratory fluoroquinolone with a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity and no cross-resistance with other classes of antibiotics, can be administered as an intravenous formulation as well as orally. Sequential therapy is easily administered due to its high oral bioavailability, and the dosing schedule can be a convenient once-daily dose. Clinical trials have established that levofloxacin is effective in AECB and is well tolerated.
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PMID:Optimal treatment strategies for acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis: high-risk patients. 1158 5


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