Penetration of cephaloridine into the subretinal fluid.

Cephaloridine is a wide-spectrum antibiotic derived from cephalosporin and, despite similarities to penicillin, it can be used in the treament of infections in penicillin-sensitive patients. Riley, Boyle, and Leopold (I968) and Records (I969) have reported the intraocular penetration of cephaloridine into the aqueous after intramuscular and intravenous administration, and Moll, Crawford, and McPherson (197i) have shown penetration into the subretinal fluid after subconjunctival injection, but penetration ofantibiotic into the subretinal fluid after systemic administration has not hitherto been reported. McMeel (I965), Criswick and Brockhurst (i969), and Lincoff, Nadel, and O'Connor (I970) have described infection after retinal detachment surgery. Langston, Lincoff, and McLean (I965) showed that a purulent endophthalmnitis may be produced experimentally with external plombage and diathermy without drainage of subretinal fluid and, although cryotherapy has largely replaced diathermy, the drainage site of subretinal fluid provides a potential route for the entry of organisms into the eye. In the management of endophthalmitis after retinal detachment surgery, it is not always simple to distinguish between the clinical signs of anterior segment ischaemia (Crock, I967), a sterile endophthalmitis, and endophthalmitis due to bacterial infection. Before diagnosis can be established, the systemic administration of an antibiotic may be indicated. In attempting to select antibiotics for the treatment of intraocular infection after detachment surgery, it would be valuable to know what levels of antibiotic are reached in subretinal fluid after systemic administration. The purpose of this paper is to report the penetration of cephaloridine into subretinal fluid in patients with retinal detachment after intramuscular injection.