Real-Life Data on the Effectiveness and Safety of Cefiderocol in Severely Infected Patients: A Case Series

Abstract

Introduction: Real-life data about cefiderocol use to treat extensively drug-resistant bacteria are scarce. We aim to report our early experience in patients with difficult-to-treat infections and limited therapeutic options.

Methods: Patients treated with cefiderocol from March 2018 to April 2022 in a tertiary-care hospital in Spain were included. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data were collected up to 90 days after the end of treatment or until death. Survival status was recorded at 30 and 90 days.

Results: Ten patients were included, seven of them critically ill. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (40%) and bacteremia (40%) were the main infections. Multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant P. aeruginosa was the most frequently isolated pathogen (70%, of which six patients were infected with bacteria with difficult-to-treat resistance), followed by A. baumannii, E. coli, and A. xylosoxidans (10% each). Seven patients received combination therapy. Clinical and microbiological cures were achieved in 90% and 80% of patients, respectively. Two previously susceptible strains (20%) developed resistance to cefiderocol. Overall, 30-day and 90-day mortality rates were 10% and 50%, respectively, although two out of five patients died due to the infection. No serious adverse events were reported, except for one patient who developed thrombocytopenia.

Conclusion: Cefiderocol seems to be an effective and safe rescue therapy for patients infected with difficult-to-treat pathogens, although there is a definite risk of the emergence of resistance.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Cefiderocol; Critically ill patients; Gram-negative bacteria; Multidrug resistance; Pseudomonas aeruginosa.