Drugs in R&D
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Longitudinal Assessment of the Effect of Atrasentan on Thoracic Bioimpedance in Diabetic Nephropathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
Fluid retention is a common adverse event in patients who receive endothelin (ET) receptor antagonist therapy, including the highly selective ETA receptor antagonist, atrasentan. ⋯ We conclude that thoracic bioimpedance did not reflect changes in weight gain or edema with atrasentan treatment in this study. However, the sample size was small, and it may be of interest to explore the use of thoracic bioimpedance in a larger population to understand its potential clinical use in monitoring fluid retention in patients with chronic kidney disease who receive ET receptor antagonists.
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Eslicarbazepine acetate is a new anti-epileptic drug belonging to the dibenzazepine carboxamide family that is currently approved as adjunctive therapy and monotherapy for partial-onset (focal) seizures. The drug enhances slow inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels and subsequently reduces the activity of rapidly firing neurons. Eslicarbazepine acetate has few, but some, drug-drug interactions. ⋯ The drug is generally well tolerated, and the most common side effects include dizziness, headache, and diplopia. One of the greatest strengths of eslicarbazepine acetate is its ability to be administered only once per day. Eslicarbazepine acetate has many advantages over older anti-epileptic drugs, and it should be strongly considered when treating patients with partial-onset epilepsy.
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Comparative Study
Methodological Study of Vancomycin Dosing in Elderly Patients Using Actual Serum Creatinine Versus Rounded Serum Creatinine.
The practice of intentional rounding up of serum creatinine (SCr) in elderly patients with low measured values can lead to an underestimation of creatinine clearance and subsequent inaccurate dosing of medications. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of vancomycin dose calculations for patients aged ≥65 years using an SCr rounded up to 1 mg/dL versus actual SCr. ⋯ Using actual SCr to perform vancomycin dosing calculations more accurately predicted measured vancomycin troughs than using an SCr rounded to 1 mg/dL. In our sex-specific analysis, using actual SCr resulted in more accurate trough projections for both males and females than using a rounded SCr.