Treatment of neutropenic infection: a randomized trial comparing latamoxef (moxalactam) with cephradine plus tobramycin.

Sixty neutropenic patients with infection were studied in a randomized trial comparing treatment with latamoxef (moxalactam) alone or with cephradine and tobramycin. The two treatment groups were comparable in respect to their clinical sites of infection, degree of neutropenia underlying malignancy, and organisms. Forty-two bacterial isolates were obtained from various clinically infected sites. All but two of these isolates were sensitive to latamoxef (30 highly sensitive, ten moderately sensitive). In contrast 29 of the isolates were resistant to cephradine and eight were resistant to both cephradine and tobramycin. Control of infection was achieved in 72% of patients treated with latamoxef and 55% treated with cephradine plus tobramycin. Latamoxef appears to be an effective antibiotic for the treatment of neutropenic patients with infection.