Tobramycin and ticarcillin therapy for exacerbations of pulmonary disease in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Patients who had cystic fibrosis and acute infectious exacerbations of pulmonary disease produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa were treated with a combination of tobramycin and ticarcillin. P. aeruginosa recovered from patients was inhibited by lower concentrations of both of these drugs than of gentamicin or carbenicillin. Thirteen courses of treatment were administered to 11 patients (mean, 14.4 days). A favorable response was seen in 11 of 12 completed courses of treatment. Improvement was associated with decreases in white blood cell count, temperature, and sedimentation rate. Adverse reactions were uncommon. Although P. aeruginosa was not eradicated from the sputum, the clinical results suggest that the combination of tobramycin and ticarcillin may be particularly useful for treatment of acute exacerbations of pulmonary disease in patients with cystic fibrosis from whom P. aeruginosa is isolated.