Vol.56 No.2 March 2008
Clinical features of 15 cases treated with linezolid
1)Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Minato-ku, Nishi-Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan
2)Department of Urology, Jikei University School of Medicine
Abstract
We investigated the clinical features of 15 cases treated with linezolid(LZD). The patients ranged in age from 0 to 80 years old (mean; 66 years old). Fifteen strains were isolated as pathogens: 11 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), 3 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis(MRSE), and 1 strain of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus(MSSA). The clinical diagnosis was sepsis in 4 cases, infective arthritis in 4, pneumonia in 2, infective endocarditis in 2, osteomyelitis in 2, deep soft tissue and skin infections in 2, mediastinitis in 1, and meningitis in 1 case. The reasons for LZD use were resistance to previous treatment in 10 cases, renal dysfunction in 5, and intolerance to glycopeptides in 4 cases. As for the adverse effects of LZD, anemia in 4 cases, thrombocytepenia in 3, and liver damage in 1 case were recognized. These results suggest that LZD is effective for the complicated infections caused by Gram-positive cocci, such as MRSA or methicillin-resistant coagulase negative Staphylococci(MRCNS), and is better tolerance. However, LZD should be given to carefully selected patients, in order to prevent the appearance of LZD-resistant bacteria.
Key word
linezolid, MRSA
Received
November 1, 2007
Accepted
December 14, 2007
Jpn. J. Chemother. 56 (2): 202-205, 2008
