title: Efficacy and safety of single-dose 2.0 g azithromycin in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-dose 2.0 g azithromycin (ZSR) in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD), we retrospectively reviewed all patients with AE-COPD who were treated with ZSR. In comparison with patients who received intravenous therapy for AE-COPD, the clinical cure rate, length of stay in hospital, and medical costs were evaluated. A total of 29 patients thus were eligible for this study. Clinical cure rates of ZSR and intravenous therapy for the treatment of AE-COPD were 83.3% (n = 12) and 88.2% (n = 17), respectively, between the groups (P = 1.000). No severe adverse events were found in either group. The ZSR and intravenous groups averaged 9.9 and 12.5 days of admission, respectively. Length of admission for clinical success cases was much shorter for patients who received ZSR than patients who received intravenous therapy (6.2 vs. 11.9 days, P = 0.038). Medical costs were less for the group receiving ZSR than for the intravenous therapy group. We suggest ZSR can achieve near-perfect compliance and could be one of the tools in the treatment of AE-COPD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Kameda Medical Center, 929 Higashi-cho, Kamogawa, Chiba 296-8602, Japan. nobuhiro0204@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohkuni
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matsunuma
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017963:Azithromycin / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017963:Azithromycin