Ceftazidime alone for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa septicaemia in neutropenic patients

Abstract

Twenty-nine patients with primary or secondary hypoplastic bone-marrow were treated successfully with ceftazidime alone for established septicaemia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa of which 38% strains were gentamicin-resistant . All the patients were neutropenic at the start of therapy; most were cured with microbiological confirmation before the bone marrow had regenerated. One patient died of cerebral haemorrhage due to profound thrombocytopenia without evidence of infection at autopsy. Significant toxicity was not observed. Ceftazidime alone is, therefore, a safe and effective treatment for infections caused by this organism even in the neutropenic patient.