[Clinical evaluation of panipenem/betamipron as a second line chemotherapy in severe infections associated with hematological disorders].
Thirty three patients with severe infections associated with hematological disorders were treated with panipenem/betamipron as a second line chemotherapy. Of these, 30 patients were evaluated for effectiveness. An excellent response was obtained in 14 patients (46.7%) and a good response in 5 (16.7%), and the overall efficacy rate was 63.3%. Efficacy rates were 3/6 in patients with sepsis, 68.4% (13/19) in patients with fever of undetermined origin, 2/4 in patients with pneumonia. In patients whose peripheral granulocyte count was below 100/microliter at the start of chemotherapy, the efficacy rate was 3/7. Side effects were observed in 5 of 33 patients (15.2%). These results show that PAPM/BP is useful as a second line chemotherapy for the treatment of severe infections in patients with hematological disorders.