Cephradine in the treatment of infective endocarditis.
Ten patients with a mean age of 34.1 years with infective endocarditis (55% of cases due to Staphylococcus aureus) were treated with cephradine. The peak serum levels of cephradine (8-42 microgram/ml) were 3- to 17-fold higher than the minimum inhibitory concentrations of cephradine against pathogenic strains of S aureus (1.2-4 microgram/ml). Patients treated with cephradine became afebrile in 2 to 13 days of therapy, and their white blood cell count returned to a normal level in 3 to 30 days. Cephradine therapy was well tolerated without any incidence of phlebitis. The drug could be administered by three different routes. Cephradine is a useful cephalosporin for treatment of nonenterococcal gram-positive endocarditis in young heroin addicts.
D000328:Adult; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002515:Cephradine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy
D002511:Cephalosporins; D002515:Cephradine