Skin concentrations of phenoxymethylpenicillin in patients with erysipelas.

In 45 patients hospitalized with febrile erysipelas that had been treated with oral penicillin, punch biopsies of infected skin were performed and analysed for phenoxymethylpenicillin (pcV) concentrations. The curves for the concurrent serum and tissue levels followed the same course, indicating a rapid diffusion of pcV from serum into tissue. Penicillin concentrations in infected skin exceeded the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the streptococci isolated for the first 4 h after tablet ingestion. Venous insufficiency was highly prevalent and pcV concentrations in affected patients were slightly but not significantly higher. A theoretical basis for the successful treatment of erysipelas with oral penicillin is therefore at hand.