Early Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Optimizes Teicoplanin Use in Febrile Neutropenic Patients with Hematological Malignancies.

Introduction: A target trough concentration (C) of teicoplanin ≥ 15-20 mg/L between the fourth and sixth day has been suggested for severe infections or management of febrile neutropenia (FN). Owing to no reports discussing the impact of early target attainment on treatment outcomes, this study aimed to evaluate the dose-C relationship and clinical outcome and estimate the optimal early target C for FN in patients with hematological malignancies.

Methods: This single-center, prospective study enrolled patients with hematological malignancies who were treated with teicoplanin either as an empirical antibiotic for FN or as targeted treatment for Gram-positive bacteria. Blood samples were collected on day three (48 h) post-loading doses, day 5 (96 h), and day 8 (when applicable) and determined by ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography-triple quadruple mass spectrometry. A total of 117 samples from 47 patients with FN (27 men, 20 women) were consecutively analyzed. A two-tailed α value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean C values at 48 h, 96 h, and on day 8 were 23.4, 21.4, and 27.8 mg/L, respectively. The patients achieving C ≥ 20 mg/L at 48 h had a higher likelihood of treatment success. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.71 for clinical efficacy and the cutoff value of C at 48 h was 18.85 mg/L (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.87; P = 0.018).

Conclusions: The C of teicoplanin after completion of loading doses could predict the treatment response, with a target concentration ≥ 18.85 mg/L.