A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED PARALLEL SINGLE-BLIND COMPARISON OF ORAL CIPROFLOXACIN WITH ORAL COTRIMOXAZOLE IN THE TREATMENT OF RESPIRATORY-TRACT INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE LUNG-DISEASE

The effectiveness of ciprofloxacin was compared with that of cotrimoxa zole in the treatment of acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic obst ructive pulmonary disease. 65 patients were eligible for efficacy anal ysis and the cure rate (comprised of both complete and partial success responses) was 97.4% for ciprofloxacin-treated patients and 92.6% for patients treated with cotrimoxazole. 261 causative organisms were iso lated from 216 patients valid for safety analysis, of which 4 (from 4 patients) were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 70 (from 55 patients) we re resistant to cotrimoxazole. Adverse events occurred with an almost identical frequency in the ciprofloxacin- and cotrimoxazole-treated gr oups (22.3 and 23.9%, respectively). Ciprofloxacin is a well tolerated and effective antibiotic in patients with acute bacterial exacerbatio ns of chronic obstructive lung disease. Causative bacterial pathogens are rarely resistant to ciprofloxacin but commonly resistant to cotrim oxazole.