[Susceptibilities of bacteria isolated from patients with lower respiratory infectious diseases to antibiotics (2001)].

From October 2001 to September 2002, we collected the specimen from 370 patients with lower respiratory tract infections in 16 institutions in Japan, and investigated the susceptibilities of the isolated bacteria to various antibacterial agents and antibiotics and patients' characteristics. Of 458 strains that were isolated from specimen (mainly from sputum) and assumed to be bacteria causing in inflammation, 456 strains were investigated. The breakdown of the isolated bacteria were: Staphylococcus aureus 69, Streptococcus pneumoniae 72, Haemophilus influenzae 85, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (non-mucoid) 44, P. aeruginosa (mucoid) 13, Klebsiella pneumoniae 32, Moraxella subgenus Branhamella catarrhalis 32, and others. Of 69 S. aureus strains, those with 4 micrograms/mL or more of MIC of oxacillin (methicillin-resistant S. aureus: MRSA) occupied 43.5%. Vancomycin and arbekacin showed the most potent activities against MRSA as observed in 2000. The frequency of S. pneumoniae exhibiting low sensitivity to penicillin (penicillin-intermediate S. pneumoniae: PISP + penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae: PRSP) was 59.7% and both rates of PISP and PRSP were the highest after 1992. Carbapenems had strong activities against S. pneumoniae. Especially, panipenem and imipenem inhibited the growth of all 72 strains at 0.125 and 0.5 microgram/mL, respectively. Generally, all drugs had strong activities against H. influenzae with MIC90s of 16 micrograms/mL or less. The drug that had the strongest activity against H. influenzae was levofloxacin, which inhibited the growth of 80 of the 85 strains at 0.063 microgram/mL. Against P. aeruginosa mucoid strain, meropenem had a strong activity with MIC90 of 0.5 microgram/mL while, against non-mucoid strain, tobramycin had a strong activity with MIC90 of 2 micrograms/mL. K. pneumoniae showed good susceptibilities to all drugs except ampicillin and minocycline, and the MIC90s were 4 micrograms/mL or less. Particularly, cefmenoxime, cefpirome, and imipenem had the strongest activity (MIC90: 0.125 microgram/mL), and cefozopran had a strong activity, inhibiting the growth of all strains at 0.25 microgram/mL. Also, all drugs generally had strong activities against M. (B.) catarrhalis. MIC90s of all drugs were 4 micrograms/mL or less. The drug that had the strongest activity was minocycline and levofloxacin inhibiting all 32 strains at 0.063 microgram/mL. Most of the patients with respiratory infection were aged 70 years or older, accounting for approximately a half of the total (40.5%). As for the incidence by the diseases, bacterial pneumonia and chronic bronchitis were the highest, being noted in 39.2% and 37.3% of all the patients, respectively. The bacteria frequently isolated from the patients with bacterial pneumonia were S. aureus (19.3%) and S. pneumoniae (19.9%). In contrast, H. influenzae (22.0%) were frequently isolated from the patients with chronic bronchitis. Before the drug administration, the bacteria frequently isolated from the patients were S. pneumoniae (20.8%) and H. influenzae (21.5%). S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae decreased after the initiation of drug administration while S. aureus increased. The isolation frequency of P. aeruginosa was higher after than before the initiation of drug administration. The bacteria were frequently isolated from the patients who had already treated with cephems were S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. From the patients who had already treated with macrolides, S. pneumoniae was the most frequently isolated while S. aureus was the most frequently isolated from the patients pre-treated with quinolones.

[A case of interstitial pneumonia exacerbated by kampo-induced pneumonitis].

A 65-year-old woman who had complained of non-productive cough since May 1998 visited our hospital on November 5, 2000. She had been treated at another hospital with Kampo (Chinese herbal medicine), including Moku-boui-to, Bakumon-do-to, and Saiko-keishi-kankyo-to for chronic non-productive cough. Chest radiographs and CT films showed the reticular shadows that had been present in 1998, in both lower lung fields, and also demonstrated new reticular shadows in the right upper lung field and left lingular segment. Laboratory data revealed hypoxemia and pulmonary function tests revealed restrictive ventilatory disturbance, so she was admitted to our hospital on November 9, 2000. After the cessation of Kampo treatment, her symptoms disappeared, and the hypoxemia, restrictive disturbance, and reticular shadows in the chest radiograph gradually improved. Video-assisted lung biopsy specimens showed thickened alveolar walls with lymphocyte and eosinophil infiltration. A leukocyte migration test was positive for Moku-boui-to, Bakumon-do-to, and weakly positive for Saiko-keishi-kankyo-to. Although no challenge test for Kampo was performed, we diagnosed this case as interstitial pneumonia exacerbated Kampo-induced pneumonitis based on these clinical, laboratory and histological findings.

Pulmonary artery involvement in Takayasu's arteritis with lung infarction and pulmonary aspergillosis.

We describe a patient with a chronic case of pulmonary involvement of Takayasu's arteritis in the resected lung. A 49-year-old woman was first diagnosed with Takayasu's arteritis at age 30 years. On her first admission, she presented with Takayasu's arteritis and pneumonia with cavitation in the left lung. After recovering from pneumonia, she was treated initially with prednisolone, 30 mg/day, and remained well until she developed hemoptysis at age 34 years. Findings suggesting aspergilloma were found in the same lobe on chest x-ray film when she was 46 years of age. By age 49 years, the hemoptysis became massive, and she was admitted for surgery. Left upper lobectomy and partial resection of S6 and S8 pulmonary segments were performed. Histologic analysis of the resected lung revealed typical pathologic findings of pulmonary artery involvement in Takayasu's arteritis, such as stenosis recanalization and a vessel-in-vessel feature, but not active vasculitis. Infection probably occurred in the cavity of the infarcted tissue. Pulmonary artery involvement is common in Takayasu's arteritis, but the aspergilloma in this corticosteroid-treated patient is an uncommon complication.

[Susceptibilities of bacteria isolated from patients with lower respiratory infectious diseases to antibiotics (2000)].

From October 2000 to September 2001, we collected the specimen from 410 patients with lower respiratory tract infections in 16 institutions in Japan, and investigated the susceptibilities of isolated bacteria to various anti-bacterial agents and antibiotics and patients' characteristics. Of 499 strains that were isolated from specimen (mainly from sputum) and assumed to be bacteria causing in inflammation, 493 strains were investigated. The breakdown of the isolated bacteria were: Staphylococcus aureus 78, Streptococcus pneumoniae 73, Haemophilus infiuenzae 99, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (non-mucoid) 64, P. aeruginosa (mucoid) 14, Klebsiella pneumoniae 25, Moraxella subgenus Branhamella catarrhalis 21, etc. Of 78 S. aureus strains, those with 4 micrograms/ml or more of MIC of oxacillin (methicillin-resistant S. aureus: MRSA) occupied 53.8%. Vancomycin and arbekacin had the most potent activities against MRSA as observed in 1999. The frequency of S. pneumoniae exhibiting low sensitivity to penicillin (penicillin-intermediate S. pneumoniae: PISP + penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae: PRSP) was 38.4% being consistent with that in 1999 (34.7%). PRSP accounted for 11.0% of the total, being more than that in 1999 (3.0%). Carbapenems had strong activities against S. pneumoniae. Especially, panipenem inhibited the growth of all 73 strains at 0.125 microgram/ml. Generally, all drugs had strong activities against H. influenzae with MIC80s of 8 micrograms/ml or less. The drug that had the strongest activity against H. infiuenzae was levofloxacin, which inhibited the growth of 94 of the 99 strains at 0.063 microgram/ml. Tobramycin had a strong activity against P. aeruginosa (both mucoid and non-mucoid) with MIC80 of 1 microgram/ml. The mucoid strain was little isolated (14 strains) but the susceptibilities to all drugs were better than the non-mucoid strain. K. pneumoniae showed good susceptibilities to all drugs except ampicillin and the MIC80S were 2 micrograms/ml or less. Particularly, cefpirome, cefozopran, and levofloxacin had strong bactericidal activities against K. pneumoniae with MIC80s of 0.125 microgram/ml, and cefotiam, second-generation cephems, also had a favorable activity being MIC80 of 0.25 microgram/ml. Also, all drugs generally had strong activities against M. (B.) catarrhalis. MIC80s of all drugs were 2 micrograms/ml or less. The drug having the strongest activity was imipenem and levofloxacin inhibiting all 21 strains at 0.063 microgram/ml. Most of the patients with respiratory infection were aged 70 years or older, accounting for approximately a half of the total (44.4%). As for the incidence by the diseases, bacterial pneumonia and chronic bronchitis were the highest, being noted in 38.0% and 31.7% of all the patients, respectively. The bacteria frequently isolated from the patients with bacterial pneumonia were S. aureus (18.3%) and S. pneumoniae (16.1%). In contrast, H. infiuenzae (20.4%) and P. aeruginosa (both mucoid and non-mucoid: 16.7%) were frequently isolated from the patients with chronic bronchitis. Before the drug administration, the bacteria frequently isolated from all the patients were S. pneumoniae (24.3%) and H. infiuenzae (26.7%). The frequency of isolated S. pneumoniae tended to decrease with the increase in the number of administration days while that of isolated H. infiuenzae did not. The frequency of isolated P. aeruginosa tended to increase with the duration of administration. The isolated bacteria were comparable between the patients already treated with penicillins and cephems. In the patients treated with aminoglycosides, macrolides, and quinolones, P. aeruginosa was most frequently isolated (33.3 to 40.0%).