NIMODIPINE TRANSFER INTO HUMAN BREAST-MILK AND CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID

OBJECTIVE: To report nimodipine concentrations in breast milk and cere brospinal fluid (CSF) of a lactating woman who was given the drug to p revent a vascular spasm secondary to angiographic examination. METHODS : A 36-year-old woman received a total dose of nimodipine 46 mg iv ove r 24 hours. She extracted milk when she noted mammary tightness, and b lood samples were taken simultaneously by venipuncture in the arm cont ralateral to that of the nimodipine infusion. A CSF sample also was ta ken in a diagnostic lumbar puncture. RESULTS: Nimodipine concentration in milk was much lower than that in serum, with a milk/serum ratio of 0.06-0.15. The CSF/serum ratio was 0.01. We estimate that the infant would have received between 0.008% and 0.092% of the weight-adjusted d ose that was administered to the mother if the baby had been nursed. C ONCLUSIONS: Nimodipine is transferred to human milk in a lower proport ion than are other calcium-channel blockers. These results suggest tha t treating the mother with nimodipine would entail no risk to the nurs ing infant.