PREVENTION OF PROSTHETIC VALVE ENDOCARDITIS BY IMPREGNATION OF GENTAMICIN INTO SURGICAL PLEDGETS

A novel drug delivery system was developed for the treatment of prosth etic valve endocarditis (PVE). The antibiotic, gentamicin, was impregn ated into surgical pledgets using non-solvent coacervation of polylact ic acid (PLA) as a binding/encapsulating agent. The in vitro dissoluti on profiles show controlled release of gentamicin for up to 36 h when PLA of molecular weight 2000 is used and up to 7 d for PLA with a mole cular weight of 50 000. The results indicate potential for the localiz ed treatment of PVE, which is cost-effective, easy to manufacture and permits dosage variability. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited