Ceftriaxone diffusion into cerebrospinal fluid of children with meningitis.

We evaluated the diffusion of ceftriaxone into the cerebrospinal fluid of 27 infants and children with meningitis who were receiving conventional antimicrobic therapy. Ceftriaxone was administered as a single 75 mg/kg dose and was given early or late or both in the course of the illness. Three hours after a dose, the mean cerebrospinal fluid ceftriaxone level was 5.7 micrograms/ml in patients studied early in the course of meningitis and 2.1 micrograms/ml in patients studied later in the illness. Six hours after a dose, the mean cerebrospinal fluid ceftriaxone levels early and late in meningitis were 7.2 and 2.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. The diffusion did not correlate with the leukocyte count or the protein or glucose content of the cerebrospinal fluid. Serial, simultaneous cerebrospinal fluid and plasma ceftriaxone levels were also determined in three additional patients with ventriculo-peritoneal shunt infections and external ventriculostomy drainage. The cerebrospinal fluid ceftriaxone levels in these patients ranged from 0.7 to 8.3 micrograms/ml. Our data indicate that ceftriaxone diffuses sufficiently and consistently into the cerebrospinal fluid to warrant its assessment in the treatment of meningitis.