Levofloxacin in Treatment of Aged Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia:Clinical Evaluation

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of intravenous levofloxacin versus ceftriaxone in treatment of aged patients with community-acquired pneumonia(CAP). METHODS A prospective, comparative study was carried out in aged CAP patients. Patients received either levofloxacin 300mg twice daily intravenously or ceftriaxone 2.0g once for 7-10 days. RESULTS The 318 patients were enrolled in this study, 301 patients were evaluable, 148 patients in levofloxacin group and 153 patients in ceftriaxone. Clinical cure rates and total effective rates were 81.8%(121/148) and 95.3%(141/148) in levofloxacin group;77.8%(119/153) and 92.2%(141/153) in control group; the bacterial eradication rate being 88.8%(71/80) and 85.4%(70/82), respectively. The clinical adverse effect rates were 7.5%(12/159) and 3.8%(6/159),while abnormal laboratory tests were 8.8%(14/159) and 10.0%(16/159) in the two groups respectively. No significant difference of the above figures between the two groups were found,P0.05. CONCLUSIONS Levofloxacin therapy is as effective as ceftriaxone in treatment of aged CAP, adverse effects are transient in both groups.