Ceftazidime in the treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media in children.

Seventeen children aged 5 months to 3 years with recurrent or chronic otitis media complicated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa were treated with ceftazidime. All patients had been previously treated with several antibiotics. All strains of Pseudomonas were initially sensitive to ceftazidime. In four of the six cases which failed bacteriologically, the Pseudomonas was found to be of intermediate sensitivity after treatment. In 11 patients the Pseudomonas was eradicated during treatment but reappeared in 4 during the follow-up period. All 11 patients were clinically cured or improved. Three of the six children whose Pseudomonas was not eliminated from aural discharge showed some clinical improvement whereas the remaining three showed no clinical response to treatment. The range of MIC values of ceftazidime, gentamicin and carbenicillin for the Pseudomonas isolated were respectively 0.5 to 4.0, 0.25 to 2.0 and 4.0 to 125 mg/l. The mean ceftazidime serum level at 1 h after the first injection of 50 mg/kg was 74.12 (S.D. 12.84) mg/l and at 12 h post injection 1.93 (S.D. 4.14) mg/l.