[Pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of ciprofloxacin in aged patients with chronic respiratory diseases].

Pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of ciprofloxacin (CPFX) were investigated in aged patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Serum and sputum concentrations of CPFX were determined upon oral administration of 200 mg CPFX in 6 aged patients with chronic respiratory diseases (mean age = 78.8 +/- 3.2 years, 2 cases diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with pneumonia, 3 cases were diagnosed bronchiectasis with acute exacerbation, and 1 case diagnosed chronic lung abscess). Maximal serum concentrations in these patients were 0.88-1.29 micrograms/ml (mean = 1.08 micrograms/ml). Thus, maximal serum concentrations of CPFX after oral administration in these aged patients were slightly lower than those in young subjects. However, peak sputum levels of CPFX following oral administration of 200 mg CPFX ranged from 0.53 to 1.47 micrograms/ml at 1-4 hours. These sputum concentrations of the 6 patients were sufficiently high for the inhibition of most infecting organisms in vitro. Clinical responses to CPFX in these 6 patients were good in 5, fair in 1, with an efficacy rate of 100%. Upon administration of CPFX, these 6 patients did not show any adverse reactions. These results suggest that oral administration of CPFX may keep effective levels in serum and sputum over 3 hours in aged patients with chronic respiratory diseases, and good clinical responses should be obtained without side effects in such patients.