Clinical outcomes of patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae after treatment with imipenem or meropenem.

Author(s): Weisenberg SA, Morgan DJ, Espinal-Witter R, Larone DH

Affiliation(s): Department of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA. scw9003@med.cornell.edu

Publication date & source: 2009-06, Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis., 64(2):233-5. Epub 2009 Apr 2.

Publication type:

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae may appear susceptible to imipenem or meropenem by routine susceptibility testing. We report a series of patients with infections caused by K. pneumoniae isolates, which yielded imipenem-susceptible results but were subsequently KPC-positive by polymerase chain reaction. When these infections were treated with imipenem or meropenem, frequent clinical and microbiologic failures were observed.