Clinical and bacteriological responses to three antibiotic regimens for acute exacerbations of cystic fibrosis: ticarcillin-tobramycin, azlocillin-tobramycin, and azlocillin-placebo.

In a randomized, double-blind study, cystic fibrosis patients 11-30 years of age with an acute exacerbation of their pulmonary disease were treated with either ticarcillin-tobramycin, azlocillin-tobramycin, or azlocillin-placebo for 10 days. There was significant improvement in Shwachman scores and pulmonary function tests. Concentrations of sputum bacteria were significantly reduced, but after therapy patients had a mean of 10(7) bacteria/ml of sputum. Pseudomonas was transiently eliminated in only one patient. The three regimens had similar impacts on pulmonary function and sputum bacterial concentration. Antibiotic resistance was noted more frequently in the azlocillin-placebo group, but this trend was not statistically significant. Improvement in pulmonary function did not correlate with bacteriological response. Four weeks after discharge, 62% of the improvement in forced expiratory volume in one second and 75% of the improvement in vital capacity remained, but concentrations of sputum bacteria had returned to pretreatment levels, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria persisted.