Short-Course Amphotericin B Therapy for Candidemia in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

To determine the efficacy of short-course (7 to 14 days of therapy after the last positive blood culture) amphotericin B therapy for candidemia in children. Case series. Tertiary care university medical center in Virginia. Thirty patients younger than 17 years of age who had candidemia between 1983 and 1990. The charts of 30 children with 31 episodes of candidemia were retrospectively reviewed for patient data, dates of positive and negative cultures for Candida from blood and other sites, dates of removal of the intravascular catheters, duration and dosage of amphotericin B administration, and outcome. Eight patients had persistent candidemia and died. Five patients were treated not in accordance with the short-course recommendations. Two had relapses; 1 was cured with catheter removal alone, and 2 were successfully treated with 26 and 30 days of amphotericin B therapy. Eighteen episodes (two episodes in 1 patient) of candidemia were cured using 7 to 14 days of amphotericin B therapy after the last positive blood culture. Once the bloodstream is sterilized, and there is no other evidence of invasive fungal disease, 7 to 14 additional days of amphotericin B at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg per day seems adequate for treatment of candidemia in children.