The Penetration of Penicillin through Normal and Inflamed Meninges

Abstract

FOLLOWING the demonstration that penicillin exhibits a remarkable antibacterial effect against organisms frequently causing meningitis, there immediately arose the question of the most effective mode of its administration in patients with these infections. Before penicillin was used in the treatment of meningitis, it was necessary to study its distribution in the body, particularly in the spinal fluid after extrathecal administration. Rammelkamp and Keefer1 demonstrated that the meninges and the choroid plexus form a partial barrier against the passage of the drug from the blood stream into the spinal fluid, both in normal persons and in patients with meningitis. As a . . .