Clinical studies of aztreonam in Japan

Clinical studies of aztreonam were undertaken by 220 investigators in 86 university and general hospitals in Japan. A total of 1,447 patients were treated by investigators in various fields. Satisfactory clinical responses were achieved in 67% of all patients. Efficacy rates by field of specialty were: internal medicine, 67%; urology, 61%; general surgery, 73%; and surgical patients in other fields (obstetrics-gynecology, otorhinolaryngology, and ophthalmology), 78%. Among 364 patients with complicated urinary tract infections, the efficacy rate was 60%. Seventy-four percent of 1,122 gram-negative aerobic organisms were eradicated after treatment with aztreonam. Adverse reactions occurred in 2.1% of patients; none were serious. Mild elevations of serum aminotransferases were observed in approximately 4% of patients for whom test results were reported. In conclusion, aztreonam demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in the treatment of gram-negative infections in hospitalized patients.