Methods and findings in experimental and clinical pharmacology
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Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol · Apr 2009
Comparative Study Clinical TrialEfficacy and safety of oral citicoline in acute ischemic stroke: drug surveillance study in 4,191 cases.
Citicoline is an essential precursor in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, a key cell membrane phospholipid, and is known to have neuroprotective effects in acute ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of oral citicoline in Korean patients with acute ischemic stroke. A drug surveillance study was carried out in 4,191 patients with a diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. ⋯ Citicoline safety was excellent; 37 side effects were observed in 31 patients (0.73%). The most frequent findings were nervous system-related symptoms (8 of 37, 21.62%), followed by gastrointestinal symptoms (5 of 37, 13.5%). Oral citicoline improved neurological, functional and global outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke without significant safety concerns.
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Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol · Apr 2009
Is referring patients with a positive history of allergic drug reactions or atopy for allergy testing to local anesthetics justified?
Although no more than 1% of adverse reactions to local anesthetics (LA) are thought to be immunologically mediated, many patients continue to be referred to allergy clinics for allergy workup. We evaluated the impact of a history of drug hypersensitivity or atopy on results of allergy testing to LA, with the aim of determining the appropriateness of allergy testing to LA in such patients. We retrospectively analyzed medical records of 112 consecutive patients referred for allergy testing to LA in a 9-year period (1996-2005). ⋯ The prevalence of multiple drug hypersensitivity, IgE values and eosinophil count were not significantly higher among the patients who tested positive as compared to the patients who tested negative. According to our data, allergy testing to LA is not justified in patients with atopy or histories of adverse drug reactions other than to LA. Further studies using validated methods of allergy testing to LA coupled with analysis of defined risk factors are needed to definitively establish the indications for referral of patients for allergy testing to LA.