Penetration of ciprofloxacin into bronchial secretions from mechanically ventilated patients with nosocomial bronchopneumonia.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the penetration of ciprofloxacin into bronchial secretions from mechanically ventilated patients with nosocomial bronchopneumonia. For this purpose, in each patient studied, simultaneous serial blood and bronchial secretion samples were obtained over a 12-h period on days 2 and 4. Eight patients were included in the study. Ciprofloxacin was given at a dose of 200 mg over 30 min by using an automatic pump. Ciprofloxacin was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Peak levels of drug in serum were 2.95 +/- 1 mg/liter on day 2 and 2.43 +/- 0.7 mg/liter on day 4. Peak and trough levels in bronchial secretions were 0.95 +/- 0.51 and 0.21 +/- 0.12 mg/liter, respectively, on day 2 and 0.76 +/- 0.17 and 0.18 +/- 0.14 mg/liter, respectively, on day 4. The ratios of peak concentrations in bronchial secretions/serum were 0.32 +/- 0.11 and 0.33 +/- 0.06 on days 2 and 4, respectively. The ratios of the area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 12 h (AUC0-12) for bronchial secretions/those for serum were 0.66 +/- 0.40 and 0.55 +/- 0.30 on days 2 and 4, respectively. A significant positive correlation was found on day 4 between the AUC0-12 for serum and the AUC0-12 for bronchial secretions. No significant correlations were found between peak values in serum and bronchial secretions.