[Concentrations of cefmenoxime and cefotiam in the human bone marrow blood (author's transl)]

In order to examine the venous blood and bone marrow blood concentrations of cefmenoxime (CMX) and cefotiam (CTM) in man, 1 g of CMX or CTM was administered by one shot intravenous injection prior to surgery of the hip joint. At 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after the administration, venous blood and bone marrow blood were collected from each of 3 patients and the concentration assayed by the agar well method. Both CMX and CTM showed excellent distribution to bone marrow blood with peak levels of 50.1 micrograms/ml and 50.9 micrograms/ml on the average 30 minutes after administration. The levels of CMX in bone marrow blood exceeded those in the venous blood at 60 minutes and thereafter and CTM at 30 minutes of administration and thereafter. It is therefore considered that both CMX and CTM appear to be useful drugs for the prophylaxis and treatment of bone marrow infection, e.g. osteomyelitis.