A clinical, microbiological and pharmacokinetic study of ciprofloxacin plus vancomycin as initial therapy of febrile episodes in neutropenic patients.

Forty-six episodes of fever in 34 patients with neutropenia and haematological malignancy were treated empirically with a combination of ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. Improvement or temporary improvement was seen in 86% of evaluable episodes, and 75% of bacteraemias improved. There was no difference in the response rate between infections due to Gram-negative and those due to Gram-positive organisms, despite the fact that MICs for ciprofloxacin for Gram-negative organisms were generally much lower. Pharmacokinetic data were obtained from five patients while receiving iv ciprofloxacin and after conversion to the oral form of the drug. The mean plasma half life on 200 mg iv was 5.7 +/- 1.7 h and mean plasma clearance 389 ml/min. The peak serum level after 750 mg orally was 3.6 +/- 2.2 mg/l and occurred between 1 and 3 h.