An alternative antimonial schedule to be used in cutaneous leishmaniasis when high doses of antimony are undesirable.
Despite more than half a century of use in leishmaniasis, antimony therapy still presents serious problems concerning dosage and toxicity. Low and high doses have been shown to be equally effective. In this paper, the feasibility of injecting one ampoule of meglumine antimoniate intramuscularly every other day until clinical cure is demonstrated, while studying a series of 40 cutaneous leishmaniasis cases. Total dose used varied from 1,822.5 to 12,150 mg of pentavalent antimony and total time of treatment varied from 3 to 10 weeks, with 86% efficacy. Thirty-six out of the 40 patients are still on follow-up with a mean time of 10.7 +/- 7 months and a median of 9 months. No relapse or mucosal lesions have been noted so far. The schedule showed good tolerance and easy application and its efficacy was comparable to the officially recommended WHO schedule. Therefore, such a schedule represents a valuable alternative for the cases with high toxicicity to antimony or daily injections are an obstacle to the treatment.
de Oliveira-Neto
Manoel Paes
MP
Ambulatório de Leishmaniose, Instituto de Pesquisas Clínicas Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
Mattos
Marise da Silva
Mda S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008536:Meglumine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000077485:Meglumine Antimoniate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D008536:Meglumine; D000077485:Meglumine Antimoniate