[Routine use of extended-release clarithromycin tablets for short-course treatment of acute exacerbations of non-severe COPD].
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to confirm, in routine clinical practice conditions, the success rates and safety of extended-release clarithromycin tablets in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the usual empirical criteria in routine clinical practice.


METHODS
An open-label, pharmacoepidemiological, clinical study in community practice was performed with 180 practitioners. The bacterial origin was suspected when sputum was obviously purulent.


RESULTS
Seven hundred and nineteen adult patients with acute exacerbation of mild or moderately severe COPD were included. A favorable clinical course of the exacerbation was observed in 92.5% of cases, with resolution of frankly purulent sputum in 99% of cases, associated with good tolerance.


CONCLUSIONS
These results confirm the value of extended-release clarithromycin tablets as first-line treatment for presumed bacterial exacerbation of mild or moderately severe, stable COPD according to the Société de pathologie infectieuse de langue française consensus.
Léophonte
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Clinique des voies respiratoires, hôpital Larrey, 24 chemin de Pouvouville, TSA 30030, Toulouse cedex 09, France. paul.leo@free.fr
Zuck
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Perronne
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Baconnet
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D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D018450:Disease Progression; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D017291:Clarithromycin