Pharmacotherapy
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Comparative Study
Fixed-dose vasopressin compared with titrated dopamine and norepinephrine as initial vasopressor therapy for septic shock.
To investigate the early blood pressure effects of vasopressin compared with titrated catecholamines as initial drug therapy in patients with septic shock. ⋯ Initial, fixed-dose vasopressin infusions increased MAP to 70 mm Hg or greater at 1 hour in intensive care patients with septic shock, similar to titrated norepinephrine or dopamine. Fixed-dose vasopressin appears appropriate as an alternative agent for hemodynamic support in patients with septic shock.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus, once considered a disease only of adults, is now being diagnosed at an increasingly alarming rate in children. It is still unclear whether the presentation, risk factors, course, and treatment of the disease are the same in children as they are in adults. Pediatric-specific prevalence is being linked to obesity and inactivity, and risk factors include being overweight, family history of the disease, and conditions of insulin resistance such as puberty. ⋯ Metformin is the only drug approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in children, but other drugs are being studied. Prevention is essential. It is critical that health care professionals and the public are educated about this disease and that studies are conducted that focus on children with type 2 diabetes.
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Therapeutic goals for atrial fibrillation (AF) include ventricular rate control, stroke prevention, conversion to normal sinus rhythm, and maintenance of normal sinus rhythm. The optimal strategy of rate versus rhythm control for acute management of patients with AF is a continuing debate. However, selected patients may require acute treatment with antiarrhythmic agents for conversion of symptomatic AF episodes to normal sinus rhythm. ⋯ The results of this meta-analysis and others concerning acute conversion of AF should be viewed as hypothesis generating and not the definitive answer to this question. Ultimately, well-designed, adequately powered, randomized placebo- or rate-controlled trials are needed in specific patient populations with AF to determine the absolute benefit of intravenous amiodarone for conversion of AF to normal sinus rhythm. Until more data are available, intravenous amiodarone cannot be promoted as a first-line agent for this purpose.
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On behalf of the Nova Scotia Seniors' Pharmacare Program, the Drug Evaluation Alliance of Nova Scotia developed a multicomponent intervention plan to facilitate the removal of chlorpropamide as an insured benefit. Chlorpropamide has caused serious hypoglycemia in seniors to a greater extent than some other agents. Pharmacy administrative claims were used to compute monthly use rates for insulin and each oral antihyperglycemic drug from January 1, 2000-December 30, 2002, in an intervention cohort (patients receiving chlorpropamide) and a control cohort (patients receiving an antihyperglycemic agent other than chlorpropamide). ⋯ By the time chlorpropamide was deinsured, only 10% of the treatment cohort continued receiving chlorpropamide; shortly after deinsurance, no beneficiaries continued receiving the drug. The antihyperglycemics with the greatest increase in prescription were glyburide and gliclazide. The deinsuring of chlorpropamide and the educational strategies that accompanied it resulted in the selection of more appropriate antihyperglycemics for Nova Scotia seniors.
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Case Reports
Cefazolin tolerance does not predict ceftriaxone hypersensitivity: unique side chains precipitate anaphylaxis.
A 48-year-old woman with a questionable history of an unspecified ceftriaxone allergy was treated with cefazolin for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis. After she tolerated cefazolin therapy for 4 days, the medical staff concluded that her allergy history was inaccurate, and she was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone for suspected nosocomial pneumonia. Approximately 10 minutes after the start of the infusion, the patient experienced anaphylaxis. ⋯ Immunoglobulin E-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to cephalosporins may occur due to antibody complexes with the beta-lactam ring or various cephalosporin side chains. Misconceptions regarding the nature of cephalosporin allergies complicate antibiotic selection for patients with questionable allergy histories and may lead to inappropriate drug reexposure and anaphylaxis. Detailed understanding of the antigenic determinants that mediate hypersensitivity reactions is essential for clinicians to avoid type 1 reactions in patients with a suspected allergy to cephalosporins.