FAILURE OF TREATMENT WITH TEICOPLANIN AT 6 MILLIGRAMS KILOGRAM DAY IN PATIENTS WITH STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS INTRAVASCULAR INFECTION

Patients with blood cultures positive for gram-positive cocci were enrolled in a prospective randomized double-blind comparative trail of vancomycin at 15 mg/kg every 12 h versus teicoplanin at 6 mg/kg every 12 h for three doses and then 6 mg/kg every 24 h. A total of 54 patients were randomized, and 40 were evaluable. Of the 40, 9 had infection of indwelling vascular catheters. Four infections were due to Staphylococcus aureus, and five were due to Staphylococcus epidermidis. In concert with catheter removal, all patients were treated successfully, regardless of which drug they were taking. Of 31 patients without an indwelling catheter, 19 were infected with S. aureus, and 12 of the 19 had either endocarditis or mycotic aneurysm. Six of eight patients given teicoplanin failed treatment, as opposed to one of four patients given vancomycin (P = 0.14). Of greater concern, four of four patients with left-sided endocarditis or mycotic aneurysm failed to recover when given teicoplanin, as opposed to one of three patients given vancomycin (P = 0.07). Although not quite statistically significant, the unexpectedly high number of treatment failures with teicoplanin resulted in a decision to discontinue patient enrollment. It is suggested that future trials explore the efficacy of larger doses of teicoplanin.