Cefepime-Induced Encephalopathy in a Tertiary Medical Center in Korea
Ji-Ye Jeon, Yong Won Cho, Hye‐Jin Moon
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cefepime is a widely used fourth-generation cephalosporin. It is commonly used as a first-line antibiotic to treat various infectious diseases such as hospital-acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and bacterial meningitis. The primary outcome of this study was the development of cefepime-induced encephalopathy (CIE) at a tertiary medical center in Korea. We also aimed to describe the clinical features of CIE. METHODS: We enrolled 1,793 consecutive patients treated with cefepime. The CIE group included 44 patients who experienced altered consciousness after receiving cefepime without any other obvious cause and showed full recovery after stopping cefepime. This study collected demographic data, laboratory findings, and clinical data including the cause of infection, duration for onset of altered consciousness, duration of cefepime treatment, dosage of cefepime, duration of recovering consciousness after stopping cefepime, sequelae after encephalopathy, and electroencephalography data. RESULTS: <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that only eGFR was significantly related to CIE. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of CIE was 2.5% in this study. It is essential to consider the possibility of CIE occurring, especially in patients with lower values of eGFR and dialysis.