Netilmicin: clinical efficacy, tolerance, and toxicity

Netilmicin, a new aminoglycoside antibiotic, has increased in vitro bactericidal activity against many strains of Enterobacteriaceae as compared to other aminoglycosides. It is a poor substrate for some of the common gentamicin-inactivating enzymes, and it has minimal toxicity in experimental animals. In 27 hospitalized patients, clinical cure was achieved in all, and the initial infecting organism persisted in only one. Therapeutic serum and urine levels were easily obtained in most patients. No ototoxicity was observed in two patients whose treatment required inordinately high serum levels and in whom other risk factors were present. Ototoxicity in 1 of 21 patients studied was unilateral, partially reversible, and not associated with high serum levels. Although nephrotoxicity occurred in 4 of 25 patients (16%), other host factors could have accounted for the toxicity in two patients. A new observation, not noted with other aminoglycoside antibiotics, was the elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase in 43% of the patients studied.