Introduction: Research on medication use aims at assessing how much of current pharmacotherapy is rational. In neonates, this is hampered by extensive off-label drug use and limited knowledge.
Areas covered: We report on medication use research and have conducted a systematic review of observational studies on medication use to provide an updated overview on characteristics, objectives, methods, and patterns in hospitalized neonates. Moreover, a review on aspects of medication use for opioids, anti-epileptics, gastric acid-related disorders and respiratory stimulants with emphasis on trends and impact of interventions is presented, illustrating how research on medication use can contribute to improved neonatal pharmacotherapy and more focused research. Medication use reports describe patterns and provide signals on irrational use, benchmarking, or can guide research priorities. Moreover, this may generate information on how neonatal health topics and their pharmacotherapy are handled over time or across regions.
Expert opinion: Research on medicine utilization is relevant, since it will inform us on aspects like trends, variability, or about the impact and pattern of implementation of guidelines in neonates. Further progress necessitates to merge datasets on medication use with clinical characteristics, and perinatal drug use remains an area in need of additional research. 相似文献
Patients with complaints of halitosis do seek treatment from physicians and dental practitioners, because of the fear that their halitosis may interfere with their social activities. Although the prevalence of halitosis has been reported to be as high as 50%, most physicians and dental practitioners are poorly informed about the causes and treatments of halitosis. In order to care for patients with complaints of halitosis a multidisciplinary team was established at the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The team included a dental hygienist, an otorhinolaryngologist, and a dentist, who developed a special halitosis programme. One short press release regarding the establishment of the team, was provided to the national press-centre. In the out-patient clinic more than 700 patients were seen by the team. Using a structured questionnaire fed to a PC, patients answered questions regarding complaints about the oral cavity, the upper respiratory tract, the throat, their general health, their cleansing habits of the oral cavity, and prior experiences with general physicians, dental practitioners, and medical specialists. They underwent examinations of the extent of their halitosis, of the perioral and neck region, the oral cavity, the upper respiratory tract, and the upper digestive tract. Finally, the members of the team came to a joint diagnosis and a joint treatment plan for every individual patient. Of the first 700 consecutive patients around 90% had a natural dentition without removable partial dentures. More than 60% were diagnosed as having periodontal disease with pockets of 4 mm or more in the maxilla. This figure was more than 50% in the mandible. Around 95% had tongue coating. 相似文献
Little is known about biological predictors of treatment response in panic disorder (PD). In the present study heart rate,
blood pressure, plasma cortisol and plasma MHPG were investigated at baseline in a sample of 44 PD patients as possible predictors
for nonresponse to treatment. We used a strict definition of nonresponse to find patients who did not respond at all after
12 weeks of treatment with brofaromine or fluvoxamine. Patients were considered nonresponders when they fulfilled two criteria:
they did not show a 50% reduction of agoraphobic avoidance and they still experienced panic attacks at endpoint. The variables
that differed significantly between the groups were used to predict nonresponse to drug therapy. Using this strict definition
of nonresponse, 15 patients (32.6%) were considered nonresponders. These patients were characterised by a higher plasma MHPG
concentration and a higher heart rate at baseline. These variables were subsequently used to predict nonresponse. 相似文献
Previously we have shown that expression of the insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) gene in 36 normal smooth muscle tissues (myometria) and 26 benign smooth muscle tumors (leiomyomas) was detectable by Northern blot analysis but that the RNA levels were low. In 9 of 20 malignant smooth muscle tumors (leiomyosarcomas) IGF-II gene expression was also low or absent, while in 11 of 20 the IGF-II gene was abundantly expressed. In 32 of these tissues we have now studied the DNA methylation state of the IGF-II gene. For the analysis of overall methylation of the gene the restriction endonucleases HpaII and MspI were used. In normal smooth muscle and in leiomyomas the IGF-II gene appeared to be methylated. In leiomyosarcomas with low IGF-II gene expression the DNA was partly demethylated. In leiomyosarcomas with abundant IGF-II gene expression overall methylation of the DNA tended to be low. In addition, we have studied the methylation state of one particular CpG site in the IGF-II gene with the restriction endonuclease AvaII. The results of the latter analysis confirm the analysis with HpaII and MspI. In conclusion, in malignant smooth muscle tumors the data indicate an inverse correlation between CpG methylation and expression of the IGF-II gene. 相似文献
The objective of this study was to characterize fibroblasts at sequential time points during intra-oral wound healing in the rat. Experimental wounds were made at several time points in the mucoperiosteum of the palate of 35-day-old Wistar rats. Fibroblasts were cultured from the biopsies under standard conditions for the same number of passages. The expression of the integrin subunits alpha 1, alpha 6, and beta 1; and the intermediate filaments alpha-smooth muscle actin and vimentin were analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was performed at 0, 8, and 60 days postwounding to confirm the expression of both intermediate filaments. The phenotypic profiles of fibroblasts cultured from subsequent stages in the wound healing process differed considerably. We conclude that distinct fibroblast phenotypes can be isolated from different stages in wound healing. These phenotypes remained stable during in vitro culturing. In addition, cryosections of the wound areas were made at identical time points and were immunohistochemically stained for the same antigens. The immunohistochemical staining correlated well to the flow-cytometric data. These results suggest the occurrence of multiple subpopulations of fibroblasts with a specialized function during wound healing. We hypothesize that undesirable consequences of wound healing might be prevented through the modulation of specific fibroblast subpopulations. 相似文献
We have examined the feasibility of target-controlled infusion of
alfentanil (TCIA) and the pharmacodynamics of alfentanil in the early
postoperative period. Patients were allocated randomly to one of the three
groups to receive balanced anaesthesia with bolus injections of fentanyl
(group F), sufentanil (group S) or alfentanil (group A). In the recovery
room all patients received the same analgesic regimen, comprising TCIA. To
evaluate the efficacy of postoperative analgesia, pain scores were measured
on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and patients indicated a need for
additional analgesia. EC50, the concentration at which, with a 50%
probability, patients reported adequate analgesia, was estimated using
logistic regression. Six patients did not complain of pain. The time from
the last intraoperative bolus injection of opioid until patients complained
of postoperative pain was shorter (P < 0.05) in group A (mean 68 min)
than in group F (101 min) and group S (136 min). The time to onset of
satisfactory analgesia was comparable in the three groups (median 18 min in
group F, 15 min in group S and 14 min in group A). EC50 of alfentanil was
determined in 28 patients; mean values were 26 ng ml-1 (group F), 39 ng
ml-1 (group S) and 52 ng ml-1 (group A). We conclude that TCIA, under the
conditions studied, resulted in a fast onset of adequate analgesia,
irrespective of the opioid administered during operation. Also, there was
no effect of opioids administered during operation on postoperative
pharmacodynamics of alfentanil.
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