Vol.55 No.6 November 2007
A controlled study to determine the effectiveness of gatifloxacin and levofloxacin in elderly patients with chronic respiratory tract infections
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan
Abstract
From November, 2004 to March 2005, we found that gatifloxacin(GFLX) doses of 100 mg b.i.d. (200 mg/day) for the treatment of secondary infections in senior citizens (age≥65 years) with chronic respiratory illness were as safe and effective as doses of 200 mg b.i.d. (400 mg/day) in non senior citizens.
A controlled study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of GFLX doses of 100 mg b.i.d. in senior patients with chronic respiratory tract infections using levofloxacin(LVFX), a new quinolone antimicrobial drug, as the control drug.
We randomly distributed GFLX doses of 100 mg b.i.d. or LFLX doses of 200 mg b.i.d. to 72 patients (age≥65) with chronic respiratory tract infections between December 2005 and April 2007. Medications were administered to patients for 7 days.
We evaluated 60 patients (GFLX group: 33, LVFX group: 27) for the efficacy of medications, 70 patients (GFLX group: 36, LVFX group: 34) for side effects, and 65 (GFLX group: 35, LVFX group: 30) for abnormal laboratory results from a total of 72 patients. Clinical efficacy was 78.8% (26/33) in the GFLX group and 70.4% (19/27) in the LVFX group. Side effects were not observed in either group, and abnormal laboratory results were observed in 4 patients in the GFLX group. These abnormal laboratory results were generally mild in nature.
Our results suggest that GFLX doses of 100 mg b.i.d. are as effective as or more effective than LVFX doses of 200 mg b.i.d. for the treatment of secondary infections resulting from chronic respiratory diseases in senior citizens.
Key word
gatifloxacin, levofloxacin, chronic respiratory tract infection, elderly
Received
August 10, 2007
Accepted
September 14, 2007
Jpn. J. Chemother. 55 (6): 441-450, 2007
