European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology
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Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. · Jan 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialEffect of adding clofazimine to combined clarithromycin-ethambutol therapy for Mycobacterium avium complex septicemia in AIDS patients.
This study compared the efficacies of clarithromycin-ethambutol and clarithromycin-ethambutol-clofazimine for the treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in AIDS patients. Thirty-four patients were randomized into two groups to receive clarithromycin 2 g/day and ethambutol 20 mg/kg/day, with or without clofazimine 200 mg/day. The evaluation was based primarily on blood cultures becoming negative after 2 months of therapy, but survival at 12 months and clinical evolution were also assessed. ⋯ No clarithromycin-resistant strain was isolated. No apparent difference in either survival or clinical evolution was observed in this small number of patients (median survival, 144 days in the clarithromycin-ethambutol group and 236 days in the clarithromycin-ethambutol-clofazimine group, P=0.44). The clarithromycin-ethambutol combination appears to be an effective and well-tolerated first-line therapy against MAC infections in AIDS patients.