Penetration of cefotaxime into heart valves, subcutaneous and muscle tissue of patients undergoing open-heart surgery.

Twenty-nine adult patients undergoing open-heart surgery were given 2 g cefotaxime as 5 min intravenous bolus injection preoperatively. Within 6 h cefotaxime serum concentrations declined from 81.0 to 6.3 mg/l. Subcutaneous tissue and muscle concentrations varied between 0.3 and 8.7 micrograms/g, heart valve concentrations varied between 2.2 and 13.0 micrograms/g. Cefotaxime concentrations in heart valves are high enough to inhibit most Gram-negative organisms causing postoperative wound infections and endocarditis.