[Prospective, comparative study (1994-1998) of the influence of short-term prophylactic treatment with azithromycin on patients with advanced COPD].
Despite the advances in therapy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requires frequent hospital admissions due to acute exacerbations. We carried out a prospective randomized study of two groups of patients with COPD, one (n = 54) treated with azithromycin (500 mg/day) for three days every 21 days during the winter months, and a control group (n = 40) without treatment. A statistically significant reduction in the number of acute infectious episodes (187) and hospital admissions (22) was observed in the treated group versus the control group (249 and 45, respectively). A short prophylactic treatment course with azithromycin is a good alternative in the management of patients with severe, advanced COPD, and could lead to an improvement in social and healthcare costs
Gómez
J
J
Servicio de Medicina Interna-Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Virgen Arrixaca, Murcia.
Baños
V
V
Simarro
E
E
Lorenzo Cruz
M
M
Ruiz Gómez
J
J
Latour
J
J
Garcia Martin
E
E
Canteras
M
M
Valdes
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000379:methods*; D017963:Azithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017963:Azithromycin