Penetration of cefotaxime into respiratory secretions.

The objective of this study was to quantitate cefotaxime and its active metabolite, desacetyl cefotaxime, in the distal airways and to compare these levels to concentrations in plasma. Respiratory secretions were obtained from the subsegmental level in 17 adult patients undergoing fiber-optic bronchoscopy within 2 h after receiving four doses of cefotaxime (2 g intravenously every 6 h). In 11 patients, cefotaxime levels measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography in bronchial secretions were below detectable limits (less than 0.5 mg/liter); however, levels of desacetyl cefotaxime exceeded 1.5 mg/liter in 9 of these 11 patients (range, 1.6 to 10 mg/liter). Concentrations of desacetyl cefotaxime in lung secretions (6.9 +/- 0.85 [standard error] mg/liter) was 77% of mean levels of desacetyl cefotaxime in plasma (8.9 +/- 1.26 mg/liter). In summary, concentrations of desacetyl cefotaxime in bronchial secretions are markedly higher than those of cefotaxime.