Chloramphenicol treatment for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium bacteremia.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the results of treating vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) bacteremia with chloramphenicol.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all adult patients with VREF bacteremia treated with chloramphenicol during the calendar year 1998 at a 522-bed tertiary referral center in New York City. Patients were identified by reviewing microbiology laboratory records. Patients with clinically significant VREF bacteremia who received chloramphenicol for at least 48 h were included in the study. Clinical and microbiological outcomes were determined. Microbiological and molecular tests were performed on a small representative sample of isolates to identify the presence of resistance mechanisms and to look for similarity among the isolates.


RESULTS
Seven episodes of significant VREF bacteremia occurred in six patients. Mean age was 54 years. All patients had cancer and three had severe neutropenia. Five of seven episodes were associated with chronic indwelling devices, but in only one of these cases was the device removed. All isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol in vitro. All six microbiologically evaluable episodes had a favorable response to chloramphenicol treatment, and four of seven (57%) clinically evaluable episodes had favorable outcomes. Only one death may have been due to VREF bacteremia, so the maximal attributable mortality was 14%. The three representative samples that were tested further were indistinguishable from one another and they displayed no evidence of resistance mechanisms.


CONCLUSIONS
In a cohort of severely ill cancer patients, chloramphenicol was effective in treating VREF bacteremia. The use of chloramphenicol should be considered in treating infections with this highly resistant organism, where therapeutic options are limited.
Ricaurte
J C
JC
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Saint Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York 10011, USA.
Boucher
H W
HW
Turett
G S
GS
Moellering
R C
RC
Labombardi
V J
VJ
Kislak
J W
JW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002701:Chloramphenicol