Real-life experience with ceftobiprole in a tertiary-care hospital

Objectives: Ceftobiprole is a new therapeutic option for bacterial pneumonia, with activity against most antimicrobial-resistant Gram-positive cocci, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Data on the use of ceftobiprole in real life are limited. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of ceftobiprole in a context of a hospital practice. Methods: In a single-centre, observational, retrospective clinical study, we collected data of 29 patients undergoing ceftobiprole therapy, with a focus on clinical outcomes and adverse events. Results: There was a high burden of comorbidities in the study cohort, including kidney dysfunction (38%) and cancer (24%), and a high proportion of patients with sepsis/septic shock (72%), a central line (41%) or on mechanical ventilation (21%). Most infections were nosocomial (24, 82.8%). Ceftobiprole was mostly prescribed for pneumonia (17 patients, 58.6%), and bloodstream infections (10 patients, 34.5%), both empirically (9 cases, 31%) and as targeted therapy (20, 69%, with staphylococci as the dominant pathogens). It was the first-line drug in 15 cases (51.7%). Overall, a favourable clinical outcome was observed in the majority of cases (68.9%), with clinical cure in 3 (10.3%) and clinical improvement in 17 (58.6%). Failure of treatment occurred in seven cases (24.1%). Three patients experienced a definite ceftobiprole-related adverse event, with two cases of myoclonus. No major adverse effect on bone marrow, kidney or liver function was observed. Conclusions: Ceftobiprole, even outside current indications, may be a safe and effective treatment for resistant Gram-positive cocci infections where other drugs are inactive or poorly tolerated, and for salvage therapy. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.