Use of Linezolid, an Oxazolidinone, in the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections

We report our experience with linezolid in an investigation of its use against resistant gram-positive bacterial infections. Fifteen patients who had renal failure (n=6), recent liver transplantation (n=5) or surgery (n=6), cancer (n=3), endocarditis (n=2), or human immunodeficiency virus infection (n=1), along with infections due to vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), and 2 patients with infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus species who had adverse reactions to vancomycin were treated with linezolid (600 mg every 12 h for 5-42 days (mean+/-SD, 20.5+/-3.5 days). Abscess drainage or prosthetic device removal was undertaken. Microbiological cure occurred in all 10 patients who completed therapy, and all 7 patients alive at follow-up were free of infection. No deaths were attributable to the index infection. Adverse events associated with linezolid use were mild leukopenia in 1 patient and nausea in another. It appears that administration of linezolid, in conjunction with surgical intervention or device removal, is an effective treatment option for serious resistant gram-positive bacterial infections.