Drs. Ryman et al. reply to Drs. Gilbert et al. and Drs. Guner et al.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Critique of "Alteplase Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Pregnancy: Two Case Reports and a Systematic Review of the L...
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Prevalence of Maternal-Risk Factors Related to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in a Commercial Claims Database: 2011-2015.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Despite the rising incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), data evaluating trends in maternal risk factors associated with NAS have not been available for recent years, a period characterized by declining opioid prescriptions. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of opioid- and non-opioid-related factors associated wit...
Efficacy and Safety of the Use of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Pharmacotherapy in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertensio...
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is often caused by left heart disease (LHD) such as heart failure (HF) or valvular heart disease. Historically, few randomized controlled trials have evaluated the off-label use of medications for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with PH-LHD. However, multiple randomized controlled trials have b...
Transitioning Hospitalized Patients with Opioid Use Disorder from Methadone to Buprenorphine without a Period of Opioid ...
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Buprenorphine, a partial μ-opioid agonist, is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder that conventionally requires symptoms of withdrawal before initiation to avoid precipitating withdrawal. Our institution implemented a microdosing approach to transition patients from full μ-opioid agonists to buprenorphine without requiring patients to und...
High-dose Cholecalciferol Supplementation in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Despite the availability of consensus guidelines for the treatment of vitamin D deficiency, prospective trials are lacking to examine alternative dosing strategies for adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who do not meet therapeutic goals with standard regimens. The primary objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of high-dose chol...
Alteplase Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Pregnancy: Two Case Reports and a Systematic Review of the Literature.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) during pregnancy is a rare but serious complication. Intravenous alteplase is the only medication approved for hyperacute treatment of AIS; however, it has not been evaluated prospectively in pregnancy. Pregnancy was an exclusion criterion in prospective AIS studies and was only recently removed as a relative contraindic...
Falsely Elevated Vancomycin Concentrations in a Patient Not Receiving Vancomycin.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of vancomycin is commonly performed using immunoassays. This case describes falsely elevated vancomycin serum concentrations, possibly secondary to endogenous protein interference. Vancomycin was prescribed for a patient with a suspected septic knee. A blood sample for TDM was inadvertently collected before the fir...
Implementation of a Stewardship Initiative on Respiratory Viral PCR-based Antibiotic Deescalation.
...Published in Pharmacotherapy
Respiratory viral polymerase chain reaction (RV PCR) tests assist in rapidly identifying viral pathogens and differentiating viral versus bacterial causes of pneumonia. Studies evaluating the use of RV PCR tests on antibiotic use in adults have demonstrated mixed results. We implemented an antimicrobial stewardship (ASP) intervention for patients w...
Patient-Level Medication Regimen Complexity in an Adolescent and Adult Population with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Published in Pharmacotherapy
Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience polypharmacy. However, there is limited understanding of how to quantify medication complexity in this vulnerable population. This study examined medication administration difficulty using the Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI) tool in adolescents and adults with ASD. The outc...
