Characteristics of the studies, pharmacokinetics and dose recommendations of isolated studies on cefepime
| Study | n | PNA | Weight | Study design | Group | Model | Modality | Administered dose | Vd | CL | t1/2 (hours) | Recommended dose |
| Thibault et al,27 USA | 9/17 | 0.5 (0.2–2.5) months | 4.4 (3.5–4.6) | P 1 group | Children | 2-compartment with NONMEM | VV–VA | 50 mg/kg every 6–24 hours or 100–150 mg/kg/day continuous infusion | Vdcentral+Vdperipheral=0.6 L/kg | 410 mL/hour/4.5 kg | — | Dosing regimens of 50 mg/kg every 8 hours reached optimal concentrations at an MIC of 8 mg/L based on simulations. |
| Zuppa et al,28 USA | 17 | 1.3–22 months | 3.3–10 | P 1 group | Infants | 2-compartment with NONMEM | VV–VA | 50 mg/kg every 8–24 hours | Vdcentral+Vdperipheral=0.4 L/kg ↑250% | 7.1 mL/min/5.8 kg ↓26.6% | — | For free cefepime, only 14 of the 19 doses (74%) demonstrated an fT>MIC of 16 mg/L, an appropriate target for the treatment of pseudomonal infections, for greater than 70% of the dosing interval. |
Boldfaced fonts represent comparisons with controls within the same study. In other studies, they represent comparisons with non-ECMO neonates from a different published study.
CL, clearance; ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; MIC, minimum inhibitor concentration; NONMEM, non-linear mixed-effects modelling; P, prospective; PNA, postnatal age; t1/2, elimination half-life; VA, veno-arterial; Vd, volume of distribution; VV, veno-venous.