Central nervous system adverse events of ceftazidime/avibactam: A retrospective study using Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Many antibiotics are well known for being associated with adverse events (AEs) of central nervous system, ceftazidime/avibactam (CAZ/AVI) is a novel β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations. In this commentary, we analyzed reports of nervous system disorders associated with CAZ/AVI, meropenem, imipenem, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, and cefepime in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System database from January 2015 to March 2022.

COMMENT: The reporting odds ratios (RORs) method was used to detect the safety signals. Up to 15.62% of CAZ/AVI AEs exhibit nervous system disorders associated with CAZ/AVI. A nervous system disorder signal was detected for CAZ/AVI compared with meropenem, ceftazidime, and ceftriaxone. Compared with meropenem, imipenem, ceftazidime, and ceftriaxone, encephalopathy, myoclonus, reported with CAZ/AVI exhibited significant RORs.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: This study found that CAZ/AVI showed a relatively stronger sign nervous system disorder than meropenem, ceftazidime, and ceftriaxone in the real world. The poor clinical outcome of these events should attract clinical attention, especially for patients with older than 65 years old and long treatment courses.