[Bone concentrations of imipenem after a dose of imipenem/cilastatin].

The concentration of imipenem in organic bone, determined in 16 patients by bioassay after short infusion (15 min) of 1 g imipenem/cilastatin was 4.3 +/- 2.06 mg/kg (geometric mean +/- standard deviation, n = 13) after 45 minutes, and 2.8 +/- 1.86 mg/kg (n = 26) after 88 minutes. Imipenem penetrates into inorganic hydroxylapatite (imbution), however, its antimicrobial activity is lost. The mean serum concentration in 12 patients (mean age 77 years) with normal renal and hepatic function 15 minutes after the beginning of the infusion was 93.1 mg/l imipenem. The mean serum half life t (1/2 beta) was 1.32 hours, the total body clearance 108.6 1/h, and the volume of distribution during the beta phase V(beta) 12.4 1.