Archives of internal medicine
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Recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of dabigatran etexilate, an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation will likely extend its administration in elderly patients. The risk of major overdosage of dabigatran etexilate in this population is, however, much increased owing to frequent renal function impairment, low body weight, drug interactions that cannot be detected with a routine coagulation test, and no antagonist available. We report herein 2 clinical cases, including 1 fatal case, illustrating our concern regarding the risk of bleeding events in elderly patients.
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Several epidemiologic studies suggested that higher sodium and lower potassium intakes were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Few studies have examined joint effects of dietary sodium and potassium intake on risk of mortality. ⋯ Our findings suggest that a higher sodium-potassium ratio is associated with significantly increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality, and higher sodium intake is associated with increased total mortality in the general US population.