No abstract

In 27 patients it was experimentally demonstrated that after an i. m. injection of 80 mg tobramycin concentrations are obtained in human lung tissue which for about two hours are higher than the minimal inhibition concentration of most gramnegative organisms. In 14 samples of the latissimus dorsi muscle no detectable tobramycin concentrations were found up two hours after injection of the same dose. The ratio of whole blood concentration and lung tissue concentration is 2 : 1. The measurement of tobramycin concentration in whole blood thus enables the concentration in lung tissue to be estimated. The results show--like all serum and tissue level assays--a high individual variation, which might be dependent on the non-defined factors of binding or metabolism, especially as during the examination period of two hours no concentration balance is accomplished between the two compartments. Administration of 80 mg tobramycin i. m. every six hours is recommended in patients with pulmonary infections due to gramnegative organisms.

No abstract

The antibiotic concentrations were determined in 28 serum samples, 24 samples of lung parenchyma and 21 samples of the skeletal muscle from 28 patients who had undergone pneumonectomy. 5 g mezlocillin had been given i. v. as a bolus injection 30 to 150 minutes before sampling. The concentrations in the lung tissue were higher than the MICs for most bacteria for two hours. If a strain is less sensitive, a dose of more than 5 g is recommended. The concentrations in muscle tissue were also effective antibacterially.

Investigation of kidneys from 20 patients revealed relatively low tobramycin concentrations in cortex and medulla after one day of treatment. After administration for several days a significant accumulation was observed in only one of three patients. Attention is drawn to the higher tobramycin concentrations found in renal parenchyma which has undergone chronic inflammatory changes compared to the "normal" values in kidneys infiltrated by tumours. A higher accumulation thus occurs in renal tissue which has already undergone structural damage as a result of bacterial inflammation.