New beta-lactam antibiotics and hemorrhagic diathesis: comparison of moxalactam and cefotaxime.

Two new beta-lactam antibiotics, moxalactam and cefotaxime, were administered to two groups of patients with clinical indications for cephalosporin therapy and bacteriologically confirmed infection. The ten patients receiving moxalactam included five patients with impaired renal function; the ten receiving cefotaxime included seven with impaired renal function (serum creatinine greater than 1.3 mg/dl). Antibiotics were administered for seven days in dosages adjusted to the level of renal function. Serum trough levels, measured by microbiological assay, were within the therapeutic range: moxalactam median, 3 micrograms/ml (range, 0.6-20 micrograms/ml) and cefotaxime median, 2.9 micrograms/ml (range, 0.5-16 micrograms/ml).