Penicillin Therapy of Infections of the Vitreous

The distribution and depletion of penicillin after intravitreal injection into the rabbit eye, as well as the irritation and damage caused by the drug, were described in previous papers.¹The therapeutic effect of such treatment was studied on an experimentally induced staphylococcic infection of the vitreous and was compared with that observed after similar therapy with sulfonamide compounds. One or two injections of a solution containing 2.5 mg. of sodium penicillin per cubic centimeter were given.²Although the penicillin was not titrated according to the Oxford method, it was estimated that this fraction had an approximate activity of 1,000 Oxford units per milligram. These studies established the necessity for further investigations to determine the extent to which dosage could be reduced and damage confined to a minimum without curtailing the therapeutic effect. For this purpose, experiments were conducted on infections of the vitreous with a mannitol-fermenting strain of