Voriconazole in the treatment of aspergillosis, scedosporiosis and other invasive fungal infections in children

Objective. To describe the safety and efficacy of voriconazole in children treated within the compassionate release program. Methods. Children received voriconazole on a compassionate basis for treatment of an invasive fungal infection if they were refractory to or intolerant of conventional antifungal therapy. Voriconazole was administered as a loading dose of 6 mg/kg every 12 h iv on Day 1 followed by 4 mg/kg every 12 h iv thereafter. When feasible the route of administration of voriconazole was changed from iv to oral (100 or 200 mg twice a day for patients weighing < 40 or >= 40 kg, respectively). Outcome was assessed by investigators at the end of therapy or at the last visit as success (complete or partial response), stable infection, or failure, based on protocol-defined criteria. Results. Sixty-nine children (ages 9 months to 15 years; median, 7 years) received voriconazole; 58 had a proven or probable fungal infection. Among these 58 patients 27 had hematologic malignancies and 13 had chronic granulomatous disease as the most frequent underlying conditions. Forty-two patients had aspergillosis, 8 had scedosporiosis, 4 had invasive candidiasis and 4 had other invasive fungal infections. The median duration of voriconazole therapy was 93 days. At the end of therapy 26 patients (45%) had a complete or partial response. Four patients (7%) had a stable response, 25 (43%) failed therapy and 4 (7%) were discontinued from voriconazole because of intolerance. Success rates were highest in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (62%) and lowest in patients with hematologic malignancies (33%). Two patients experienced treatment-related serious adverse events (ulcerated lips with rash, elevated hepatic transaminases or bilirubin). A total of 23 patients had voriconazole-related adverse events, 3 (13%) of which caused discontinuation of voriconazole therapy. The most commonly reported adverse events included elevation in hepatic transaminases or bilirubin (n = 8), skin rash (n = 8), abnormal vision (n = 3) and a photosensitivity reaction (n = 3). Conclusion. These data support the use of voriconazole for treatment of invasive fungal infections in pediatric patients who are intolerant of or refractory to conventional antifungal therapy.