Current Drug Safety - Volume 12, Issue 3, 2017

Background: The prevalence of adverse drug reactions is reported to be high in critical care units. We conducted a systematic review to study the prevalence, drugs implicated, preventability, predictability, severity and determinants of adverse drug reactions in critical care settings. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PROQUEST and OVID (January 1995 to June 2015) using pre-specified appropriate medical subject hea Read More

Background: Infectious and malignant events are responsible for morbidity and mortality in patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (IMIDs). Anti-tumor necrosis factor (Anti-TNF) agents appear to have an impact, however the individual effect of these agents in the different conditions is still unclear. Objective: The aim of this study is to estimate the Incidence Rates (IR) of infections and malignancies in patient Read More

Introduction: Drug treatment may be related to the development of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Aim: In this paper, we evaluated the ADRs in patients admitted to Catanzaro Hospital. Methods: After we obtained the approval by local Ethical Committee, we performed a retrospective study on clinical records from March 01, 2013 to April 30, 2015. The association between drug and ADR or between drug and drug-drug-intera Read More

Background: Poor quality antimalarial medicines still represent a threat to the public health, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa which bears a disproportionate share of the global burden of malaria. It is essential and urgent to strengthen mechanisms against counterfeit medicines. One of the approaches is regular market surveillance through quality controls. Methods: 12 samples of artemether/lumefantrine were collected Read More

Background: Voluntary medication error reporting is an imperfect resource used to improve the quality of medication administration. It requires judgment by front-line staff to determine how to report enough to identify opportunities to improve patients’ safety but not jeopardize that safety by creating a culture of “report fatigue.” Objective: This study aims to provide information on interpretability of medication error and th Read More

Background: Topiramate is a medication that is approved as both monotherapy and adjunctive treatment of seizure disorder in adults and adolescents. It is also approved for migraine prophylaxis. It has been associated with many side effects, including weight loss and the development of renal stones. It has also been associated with various central nervous system side effects such as dizziness, nervousness, parasthesia Read More

Background: Hypersensitivity reactions due to Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs ) are rare, and further anaphylaxis to a PPI with cross-reactivity to all commercially available PPIs is very rare. Objective: To present a case of anaphylaxis to pantoprazole with cross-reactivity to all commercially available PPIs. Methods: Skin prick tests (SPTs), intradermal tests (IDTs) and oral provocation tests (OPTs) were performed with available Read More

Background: Lithium is known to cause certain neurological deficits. However, reports of aphasia secondary to lithium toxicity are scant. We report the case of a 70 year old African American woman with a history of schizoaffective disorder and mild dementia who developed transient intermittent aphasia secondary to lithium toxicity. Methods: Patient was admitted because of agitation, delusional behavior, and pressur Read More

Introduction: Incidence of antibiotic- associated diarrhoea is a common (10–30%) but pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is less frequent (1-5%). Fluoroquinolones, clindamycin, penicillins, cephalosporins (mostly third generation) are commonly associated with PMC. The association between cephalosporins and PMC is now well established. Case Presentation: A 78 year old male patient developed pseudomembraneous colitis a Read More

Background: Clomiphene is normally used in women with ovulatory dysfunction. In men, it is used off label in some cases of infertility. Psychological adverse effects are reported in women but very few in men. Case: A 34-year-old man treated with clomiphene for oligoteratospermia presented anxiety, decreased appetite, and mood change making him unable to function properly at work, five days after initiation of therapy. Sym Read More

Background: A 54-year-old man presented complaining of severe pain and blurred vision in his left eye. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed a large epithelial defect with an underlying prominent ring infiltrate and severe anterior uveitis with fibrinous exudates and hypopyon. Patient admitted abuse of topical tetracaine, which was discontinued and topical treatment with a non-steroidal antiinflammatory agent, an antibiotic, a c Read More