[Concentrations of cefotaxime in serum and myocardial tissue]

Serum and myocardial concentrations of cefotaxime (CTX) were measured in 20 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. To all of these patients 1.0 g of CTX was given intravenously (in the range of 13.7--29.0 mg/kg) at the beginning of operation. The serum concentrations of CTX were determined at 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes and 120 minutes after administration. Myocardial concentrations of CTX were also determined at about 30 minutes (group I), 60 minutes (group II) and 120 minutes (group III). The following results were obtained. Average serum CTX concentrations were 132.8 +/- 34.1 micrograms/ml at 5 minutes, 92.0 +/- 23.1 micrograms/ml at 10 minutes, 44.6 +/- 12.3 micrograms/ml at 30 minutes, 24.5 +/- 7.7 micrograms/ml at 60 minutes and 12.3 +/- 4.9 micrograms/ml at 120 minutes after administration. Average myocardial CTX concentrations were 10.0 +/- 3.7 micrograms/g in group I, 3.6 +/- 2.1 micrograms/g in group II and 2.3 +/- 1.8 micrograms/g in group III. The myocardial/serum concentration ratio was 0.22 +/- 0.14 in group I, 0.15 +/- 0.08 in group II and 0.18 +/- 0.12 in group III, respectively. These results suggested that the serum and myocardial concentrations of CTX were high enough to be prophylactic and therapeutic against not only aerobic but also anaerobic and opportunistic infections during and after cardiac surgery.