Current Drug Safety - Volume 10, Issue 3, 2015

Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are a heterogeneous group of drugs often used in the therapy for hypertension and angina. Though CCBs are generally similar in terms of their efficacy yet, they differ in their ability of causing selective inhibition in the contractility of vascular smooth muscle in comparison to cardiac muscle. Felodipine is one of the most vascular selective of the available CCBs and it has no negative inotropic e Read More

A multidisciplinary approach based on clinical expertise and knowledge of molecular processes involved in hepatocarcinogenesis is needed for the proper management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Such information must be considered in the context of pathobiology of the underlying liver disease. New drugs targeting specific molecular steps in pathways involved in HCC growth and development bear the pr Read More

The advent of new oral anticoagulants (NOAC) has increased the armamentarium against thromboembolic diseases but has given rise to a conundrum on their reversal. NOAC’s have comparable efficacy to traditional vitamin K antagonists with similar rates of major bleeding. However there is no standardized method for reversal of these agents and no specific antidote. This is of concern not only in acute bleeding episo Read More

Natalizumab and alemtuzumab are monoclonal antibodies approved for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). A third monoclonal antibody, daclizumab, should soon become another alternative for RRMS therapy. A group of 26 doctors working at specific MS Units in seven different Latin American countries participated in the present study. All 26 neurologists had experience with natalizumab for the tr Read More

Introduction: The administration of antibiotics for the treatment of pediatric illnesses is common, reaching one third of pediatric patients. This paper aims to identify the antibiotic prescription practices of pediatricians and to explore the associations between prescribing practices and a series of socio-demographic and professional determinants in Greece. Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in p Read More

Objectives: This study evaluates the impact of carvedilol dose changes on the ventricular arrhythmia event rates for patients > 18 years of age with systolic heart failure and examines dose dependent effects of carvedilol withdrawal in dose reduction and discontinuation subgroups. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients with systolic heart failure (EF < 40%) receiving carvedilol. The primary outcome was inciden Read More

Introduction: Disproportionality analysis (DA) of adverse drug reactions spontaneous reporting (SR) databases is used to identify signals of disproportionate reporting (SDR). The objective of this study was to identify the generation of SDR in the published literature and whether it led to regulatory action. Methods: A systematic literature search in MEDLINE and Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in Read More

Adverse cutaneous reactions are frequently reported to occur with the use of psychotropic medications, which may lead to poor drug compliance. As compared to other groups of psychotropic medication, antipsychotics, both typical and atypical, are less likely to cause adverse cutaneous reactions. The most frequent cutaneous adverse reactions associated with antipsychotics include fixed drug eruptions, exanthematous e Read More

Tacrolimus is a calcineurin inhibitor primarily metabolized by CYP3A4 and secondarily by CYP3A5. Several drugs can modify tacrolimus blood levels as calcium channel blockers (CCBs). Interaction with nicardipine was reported in some cases. A man with a history of malignant arterial hypertension treated with nicardipine, underwent kidney transplantation. After transplantation, he was treated with tacrolimus, mycoph Read More

Sagittal sinus thrombosis (SST) induced by chemotherapy is exceptional. We describe here a new case following the fourth cure of chemotherapy based on cisplatin, bleomycin and etoposide in a 16-year-old patient with no obvious risk factors. Through this uncommon case which forms part of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), we propose to study the pathophysiology, the diagnosis and the management of this entity. Th Read More

We present an 18-month boy with imipramine poisoning to illustrate the neuro-cardiac toxic effects of this potentially deadly poison in children. The toddler ingested an unknown amount of imipramine from a non-childproof bottle which clearly labelled that the drug must be kept out of reach from children. He developed neurologic and cardiac symptoms. Electrocardiography (ECG) showed tachycardia and widened QRS. He w Read More

Sweet’s syndrome has been reported in association with inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's disease. It has also been reported in association with several drugs. Here, we report a rare case of Sweet’s syndrome induced by azathioprine in a patient with Crohn's disease.