The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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Review Comparative Study
Clevidipine: an ultra short-acting calcium channel antagonist for acute hypertension.
To review the safety, efficacy, and pharmacologic characteristics of clevidipine, a new ultra short-acting intravenous antihypertensive agent for the treatment of moderate-to-severe hypertension. ⋯ Clevidipine is the first intravenous antihypertensive approved by the Food and Drug Administration in nearly a decade. Based on available published clinical trials, clevidipine appears to be safe and effective in the acute management of moderate-to-severe elevations in blood pressure and a viable alternative to other agents such as nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, and nicardipine.
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To review the pharmacologic properties of a novel class of chemotherapeutic agents, the epothilones, and to summarize findings from recent clinical trials investigating the various epothilones in cancer therapy. ⋯ The epothilones have demonstrated significant potential for addressing the growing therapeutic challenge of taxane resistance, and the ever-increasing pool of information regarding structure-activity relationships of these MSAs will help to optimize microtubule-targeted chemotherapy.
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Comparative Study
The impact of methodological approach on cost findings in comparison of epoetin alfa with darbepoetin alfa.
Two erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa, are approved for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in patients with cancer. Randomized controlled trials indicate that the drugs are similarly efficacious, but that the duration of clinical benefit (DCB) ranges from 2 to 7 days for epoetin alfa and from 7 to 21 days for darbepoetin alfa, depending on dose. Given equivalent efficacy, payers are increasingly interested in understanding the cost differences for these 2 drugs. ⋯ To reduce the risk of potential bias, DCB and different patient characteristics should be taken into account when using retrospective claims data to conduct cost comparisons between agents that have significant differences in dosing schedule.
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Case Reports
Prefilter bivalirudin for preventing hemofilter occlusion in continuous renal replacement therapy.
To describe a case of successful bivalirudin use as a prefilter anticoagulant in continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). ⋯ Prefilter bivalirudin may be an option to prevent filter occlusion in patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy. Future studies are needed to validate the safety and efficacy of bivalirudin as a prefilter anticoagulant.