Treatment of Pneumonia With Sulfonamide Drugs

¹ Indianapolis, Indiana

In a twelve-month period 46 patients were admitted for the treatment of pneumonia, and nearly all of them were treated with sulfonamide drugs. Drug treatment was complicated by albuminuria, anemia, leucopenia, nausea, and hematuria; and one case of toxic nephritis developed, resulting in death. In view of the fact that, both in this series and in others, most of the complications of sulfonamide therapy occur in cases in which the drug has been given continuously for over seven days, it is felt that sulfonamide therapy should very rarely be continued beyond the seventh day. Leucopenia and hematuria are serious complications, and call for immediate cessation of drug treatment.

The gross mortality rate was 10 cases, or 22 per cent. However, if we exclude the 6 cases who died so soon after admission that an effective concentration of the drug could not be achieved, the mortality is 4 cases, or 10 per cent. Considering the age and otherwise unfavorable factors involved, it is not felt that such results could be obtained without sulfonamide therapy.