[Prospective randomized controlled study of a ceftazidime and pefloxacin combination versus a ceftazidime and amikacin combination in the empirical treatment of pneumonia and nosocomial septicemia at intensive care units].

Three hundred fifty-two patients from 20 intensive care units, suffering from pneumonia or nosocomial septicemia were treated at random with either ceftazidime + pefloxacin (CP) or ceftazidime + amikacin (CA). After exclusion of patients who did not comply with the protocol and of cases where no organism was isolated, 108 assessable patients received CP and 114 received CA. The cure rates achieved in infections due to a single organism were 82 per cent in the CA group and 62 per cent in the CP group. In infections due to multiple organisms, the cure rate was 67 per cent with both antibiotic regimens.