TREATMENT OF PYELONEPHRITIS: BACTERIAL, DRUG AND HOST FACTORS IN SUCCESS OR FAILURE AMONG 252 PATIENTS.

EFFECTIVE therapy for most bacterial infections has been developed since the advent of potent antimicrobial agents. Chronic pyelonephritis, however, has been notably refractory to permanent cure. Autopsy studies have demonstrated no decrease in the incidence of pyelonephritis since the introduction of antibiotics.1 It has been estimated that prolonged freedom from infection is achieved in as few as 10 per cent of these patients.2 In two earlier investigations bacteriuria was eliminated in almost all patients with chronic pyelonephritis during treatment, but only 50 per cent remained free of infection after therapy.3 , 4 Variable cure rates have been reported in different series in . . .