[Efficacy and safety of moxifloxacin in patients with nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia].

Moxifloxacin (MFLX) is a respiratory quinolone, and is effective against not only Gram-positive and negative bacteria but also anaerobes. There has been no prospective studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of MFLX in patients with nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia (NHCAP). Therefore, we assessed the efficacy and safety of MFLX in patients with NHCAP. NHCAP patients with mild and moderate severity assessed by the A-DROP system in community-acquired pneumonia guideline proposed by Japan Respiratory Society visited our hospitals from April 2011 to March 2012. Clinical symptoms, chest X-ray films and/or computed tomography, peripheral white and red blood cell and platelet counts, serum CRP, AST, ALT, BUN, creatinine were evaluated. Forty patients were eventually evaluated, and average age was 74.1 years old, male/female were 21/19, 92.5% (37/40) of them had one or more comorbidities. Median duration of MFLX administration was 7.1 days (4-15 days). The efficacy of MFLX in all patients was 87.5% (35/40). The efficacies in each age group were 87.9% (aged over 65 years old), 85.7% (aged under 64 years old), and in each pneumonia severity group by the A-DROP system were 91.7% (mild), 85.7% (moderate). Diarrhea and swelling of the breast were observed in one patient (2.5%) after starting MFLX administration. Mild elevated transaminases were observed in three patients (7.5%), and mild renal dysfunction was observed in two patients (5.0%). All abnormally increased levels of transaminases and serum creatinine were recovered after a cessation of MFLX. MFLX is effective and safe in patients with NHCAP.

Two cases of primary ciliary dyskinesia with different responses to macrolide treatment.

We herein report two cases of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) with different responses to macrolides. Case 1: a 17-year-old Japanese man with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and combined defect of both inner and outer dynein arms in the cilia was unsuccessfully treated with long-term macrolides (clarithromycin, erythromycin, and azithromycin). Case 2: a 70-year-old Japanese man with deficiency of only the inner dynein arm was successfully treated with clarithromycin. Though the reasons for the different responses to macrolides are unclear, differences of ultrastructural abnormalities of the cilia might be one of the predictive factors in PCD just as in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.

[Efficacy and safety of sitafloxacin for lower respiratory tract infections].

We investigated the efficacy and safety of sitafloxacin (STFX) in patients with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia or secondary infections of chronic respiratory tract diseases. The results showed that the efficacy rate was 96.5% (111/115) in patients analyzed for efficacy. The efficacy rate by STFX administration method was 93.9% (46/49) at 50mg b.i.d., 100% (37/37) at 100 mg q.d. and 96.6% (28/29) at 100mg b.i.d. In chest X-rays, the image improvement rate in 102 patients with shadows before treatment was 94.1% (96/102). The image improvement rate by STFX administration method was 90.5% (38/42) at 50 mg b.i.d., 97.1% (33/34) at 100mg q.d. and 96.2% (25/26) at 100mg b.i.d. Side effects occurred in five out of 115 patients (4.3%). Abnormalities in hepatic function test values appeared in two patients and abnormalities in renal function test values appeared in three patients. In four cases, the abnormalities were very mild and STFX administration was continued without any treatment. In the other patient, the abnormal value rapidly returned to normal after STFX administration was discontinued. These findings indicated that STFX can be used safety in routine practice by adjusting the administration within the approved dose based on patient characteristics. Good therapeutic effects can be expected in patients with respiratory tract infections.