Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Nov 2009
ReviewTherapy of community-acquired acute bacterial meningitis: the clock is running.
Despite antibiotic therapy and supportive intensive medical care, bacterial meningitis remains a disease with high mortality and morbidity. Rapid recognition of symptoms is crucial to direct physicians quickly towards appropriate diagnostic measures and, initially, empiric antibiotic therapy. ⋯ Here, we review the clinical and laboratory presentation of community-acquired bacterial meningitis and the antibiotic regiments that are currently recommended for its treatment; future therapeutic options are also discussed. Finally, suggestions for the approach to a patient with suspected bacterial meningitis are presented.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Oct 2009
ReviewMultidisciplinary treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer: a literature review. Part 1.
In Western countries, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in terms of incidence and mortality. The management of rectal cancer has undergone and continues to undergo significant evolutions. ⋯ Multimodality treatments have improved the prognosis of locally advanced rectal cancer with local recurrences decreasing from 40% to < 10% and overall survival increasing from 50% to 75% in the last 40 years. This review discusses the role of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy regimens used in the standard combined modality treatment programs for rectal cancer and focuses on the ongoing research to improve these regimens.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Oct 2009
Review Comparative StudyThe economic implications of generic substitution of antiepileptic drugs: a review of recent evidence.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers generic and branded drugs to be therapeutically equivalent if they are pharmaceutically equivalent and bioequivalent. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) disagrees and opposes generic substitution of branded antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) without physician and patient approval due to the risk of loss of seizure control. ⋯ Current literature suggests statistically higher overall healthcare costs during periods of generic AED use than during periods when branded AED are used, consistently demonstrated across different countries (Canada and the USA) and in both stable and unstable epilepsy patients, with more pronounced cost increases in patients receiving multiple generic versions. Brand-to-generic substitutions of AEDs do not necessarily reduce overall healthcare costs and may even increase them.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Oct 2009
ReviewThe clinical efficacy and abuse potential of combination buprenorphine-naloxone in the treatment of opioid dependence.
Opioid dependence is a chronic relapsing condition for which long-term opioid substitution treatment (OST) is effective. However, safety and community acceptance of OST is compromised by diversion of prescribed medication. The development of a formulation combining buprenorphine and naloxone is designed to reduce the likelihood of intravenous misuse, and the therefore the value of the medication if diverted to the black market. ⋯ The addition of naloxone does not appear to affect the efficacy of buprenorphine as a maintenance drug. While offering some deterrence of injection through precipitated withdrawal, there are many circumstances where injecting of buprenorphine-naloxone is reinforcing rather than aversive. The combination will reduce, but not eliminate, intravenous misuse; clinicians therefore need to monitor patients in OST, and be selective in providing patients with medication to be taken without observation.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Oct 2009
ReviewTerlipressin: a promising vasoactive agent in hemodynamic support of septic shock.
At present, terlipressin is predominantly used for the management of bleeding gastric and esophageal varices, as well as hepato-renal syndrome secondary to liver cirrhosis. Owing to its high and relatively selective affinity to vascular V1 receptors, terlipressin is also increasingly used as an adjunct vasopressor agent in the management of vasodilatory hyperdynamic septic shock. ⋯ Terlipressin represents an effective pressor agent in patients with catecholamine-unresponsive septic shock. However, caution should be exercised, as terlipressin may contribute dose-dependently to vasoconstriction and a reflectory decrease in cardiac output. Additional studies are needed to clarify: i) the optimal time of therapy institution; ii) the efficacy and the dosages of continuous infusion versus bolus administration; and iii) the safety and efficacy of this compound in comparison with other nonspecific vasopressinergic drugs, such as arginine vasopressin. Whether or not terlipressin may improve the outcome of septic shock patients compared with standard therapy with catecholamines remains to be determined.