Aerosol chemotherapy in bronchopulmonary candidiasis

One of the most frequent complications encountered in non-specific respiratory pathology of recent years is overinfection by Candida albicans. An important contributive factor is the recent massive antibiotherapy, above all with tetracyclines, favouring this overinfection. Since at present the treatment of bronchopulmonary processes is difficult owing to the lack of an effective oral or parenteral therapy, a study was carried out of 33 patients treated with nystatin and amphotericin B in aerosol form, with 3-4 sessions of treatment per day, during a minimum of 10 days. At each session either 50,000 U of nystatin or 5 mg of amphotericin B were administered. The results obtained showed that after treatment, C. albicans was no longer present in the sputum of 84% of cases treated. In view of these results it is considered that - at present - the two most suitable substances for the treatment of pulmonary candidiases are nystatin and amphotericin B in aerosol form.