Evaluation of oral erythromycin and local isoniazid instillation therapy in infants with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin lymphadenitis and abscesses.
A randomized placebo-controlled prospective trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of erythromycin therapy in 69 patients affected with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin lymphadenitis. When patients who developed subsequent regional abscesses were excluded, erythromycin caused significantly earlier resolution of lymphadenitis (5.1 months vs. 5.7 months for placebo; P < 0.01) compared with placebo. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who developed subsequent regional abscesses between the 2 groups (47% for erythromycin, 60% for placebo, P = 0.14). When the entire group of 69 patients was evaluated for "duration to heal" (regardless of subsequent abscess formation), erythromycin therapy (4.1 +/- 1.5 SD months) did not differ significantly from the placebo group (3.5 +/- 1.3 months, P = not significant). Patients who developed subsequent abscess (n = 36) along with those with B. Calmette-Guérin regional abscesses at presentation (n = 27) were further studied to compare oral erythromycin therapy with that of single dose 50-mg intranodal isoniazid instillation. Local isoniazid therapy caused significantly earlier resolution of the abscesses (3.9 months) compared with erythromycin therapy (5.2 months; P < 0.001).