Passage of chloramphenicol and sodium colistimethate into the cerebrospinal fluid. Studies of hydrocephalic children.

Abstract

SODIUM COLISTIMETHATE (Coly-Mycin Injectable) [Colomycin] has been shown to be of value in the treatment of certain types of infection (Carroll and Malette, 1961; 1 Edgar and Dickinson, 1962; 2 Sandrucci, 1956 3 ), but its value in the treatment of meningitis has not been established. Marsden and Hyde (1962) 4 reported the successful treatment of two children with meningoceles suffering from meningitis. Sandrucci (1958) 5 found sodium colistimethate diffused well into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children and that the diffusion levels obtained in children with inflamed meninges were even higher. Boger and Gavin (1961) 6 also reported that sodium colistimethate diffused into the CSF of adults with uninflamed meninges. For these reasons it was thought that this drug might be of value in the treatment of infection in hydrocephalic children; and the results obtained were compared with those obtained with chloramphenicol, the ability of which to diffuse into the