Hydrolysis of cefamandole nafate in dialysis patients

The hydrolysis of cefamandole nafate was examined in vivo in five dialysis patients and five subjects with normal renal function. The plasma half-life of cefamandole was prolonged in the patients with renal failure compared with normal subjects (18.3 +/- 4.5 [standard deviation] versus 10.35 +/- 1.4 min, P less than 0.01). The pharmacokinetics of cefamandole nafate best fit two-compartment, open-model kinetics. We conclude that patients with severe renal failure are capable of hydrolyzing cefamandole nafate to cefamandole and formate at a rate sufficiently rapid so as not to allow an accumulation of cefamandole nafate. The difference in half-life may be related to urinary excretion of cefamandole nafate in normal individuals.