Clinical evaluation of sulbactam/cefoperazone for severe infections associated with hematological disorders

The effectiveness of sulbactam/cefoperazone (SBT/CPZ) on severe infections associated with hematological diseases was evaluated in a nation-wide multicenter clinical study. SBT/CPZ (4-6 g/day), a 1:1 combination of SBT and CPZ, was given intravenously to 437 patients with hematological disorders. The underlying diseases included acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, malignant lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome and others. Thus, 94.3% of the patients had hematological malignancies. The complicating infections included sepsis in 41 cases; sepsis suspected in 205; pneumonia in 47; urinary tract infection in 15; fever of unknown origin in 59; and others in 70. Clinical efficacies of SBT/CPZ were as follows; markedly effective, 83 cases; effective, 170; fairly effective, 59; and ineffective, 110. The efficacy rate (markedly effective plus effective) was 60.0% as a whole. The efficacy rate of SBT/CPZ in sepsis and suspected cases, which accounted for 56.3% of the infections, was 59%. Mild side effects such as skin rash were observed in 15 patients (3.1%). As for abnormal laboratory test results, transient increases in GOT, GPT, A1-P, LDH, etc. were observed in 42 patients (8.6%). Therefore, SBT/CPZ is considered to be a useful drug in empiric therapy for severe infections associated with hematological diseases.