Penetration of ceftazidime into cerebrospinal fluid of patients with bacterial meningitis.

Four 2-g doses of ceftazidime were infused intravenously over 30 min at 8-h intervals, first between days 2 and 4 and again between days 11 and 20, in 11 patients with bacterial meningitis undergoing treatment with other antibiotics. Concentrations of ceftazidime in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples obtained 120 or 180 min after dose 4 were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid ranged from 2 to 30 micrograms/ml, depending on the sampling time and the time elapsed since the onset of the disease.