Glafenine-associated anaphylaxis as a cause of hospital admission in the Netherlands

Summary In 1981 generalized anaphylaxis was registered on 166 occasions in Dutch general and academic hospitals. Clinical details of 120 of those patients revealed that in 107 anaphylaxis was either probable (n=90) or possible (n=17), whereas in 13 cases some other reaction than anaphylaxis had occurred. The series of confirmed cases contained 46 men and 61 women, with mean ages of 47 y and 48 y, respectively.There was a complete recovery in 102 patients and two patients died. Hypotension was present in 79 cases (74%), dyspnoea in 34 cases (32%) and a skin reaction, mainly urticaria, erythema or angioedema, was mentioned in 62 cases (58%). Most cases of anaphylaxis were drug-induced (76%), the main causes being the analgesic glafenine and contrast media. Glafenine was mentioned as the cause in 36% of all admissions for drug-induced anaphylaxis. Only 3.7% of cases had been reported to the voluntary reporting scheme of the Netherlands Centre for Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs.On the basis of reimbursement data, the risk of developing severe anaphylaxis to glafenine was estimated at 11.7–19.3-fold relative to indomethacin, and 13.4–20.2-fold relative to oral penicillins.     

Smoking and coffee intake following alcohol withdrawal in alcoholic inpatients

The aim of this study was to assess alcoholic inpatients' smoking and coffee intake variation following withdrawal. Only moderate smokers (less than 30 cigarettes/day) showed a significant increase of cigarette consumption after alcohol withdrawal. However, their urinary cotinine level did not vary, suggesting a behavioral, and not biological, compensation through smoking following alcohol withdrawal. Heavy smokers (30 cigarettes/day or more) showed no significant clinical or biological variation of smoking behavior. Coffee consumption increased after alcohol withdrawal in all patients, irrespective of smoking habits.     

Adverse reactions attributed to sumatriptan

There are several reports on cardiac adverse reactions attributed to the antimigraine drug sumatriptan in the recent literature. In order to assess the frequency and the character of adverse reactions to sumatriptan, a postmarketing cohort study was performed one year after registration of the drug in The Netherlands. With assistance of 86% of the drug dispensing general practitioners in The Netherlands, 1727 patients who had received sumatriptan were traced in July, 1992. Via their general practitioners, a questionnaire about use of sumatriptan, adverse reactions and other medication was sent to the patients in December 1992. During the study period, seven patients were lost to follow-up. Of the 1720 remaining patients, 1202 (70%) responded to the questionnaire, of whom 1187 had actually used sumatriptan. The most frequently reported suspected adverse reactions were paraesthesiae (139 patients, 95% CI 9.9%–13.5%) and dizziness (96 patients, 95% CI 6.5%–9.7%). Chest pain after use of sumatriptan was reported by 94 patients (7.9%, 95% CI 6.4%–9.4%), and according to the close temporal relationship with the intake of sumatriptan and a positive rechallenge, a causal relationship was probable in most of those patients. The frequency of chest pain attributed to sumatriptan was higher in females (9.0% vs 4.6%; relative risk 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.4). Age and hypertension were not associated with chest pain attributed to sumatriptan. Dyspnoea attributed to sumatriptan was reported by 26 patients (2.2%), and was associated with obstructive lung disease (relative risk 5.4 95% CI 1.7–16.9). Thus, in view of the high frequency of chest pain after use of sumatriptan and reports in the literature of cardiac disturbances, including myocardial infarction, cautious use of the drug is advised.     

Validation in the sheep of an ultrasound velocity dilution technique for haemodialysis graft flow

BACKGROUND: A simple, rapid, inexpensive method for measuring the flow in a patient's vascular access would permit routine monitoring during haemodialysis, and hence provide information of access graft deterioration sufficiently early to increase the success of minimally invasive remedial procedures. This paper reports the validation of such a method in animals. METHODS: A PTFE graft was implanted in sheep between the carotid artery and the jugular vein. While the sheep was under general anaesthesia and on an haemodialysis circuit, ultrasound velocity in its blood was perturbed by the injection of a 5-10 ml bolus of isotonic NaCl. The pump tubing flow was measured by a transit-time blood flow meter. This flow was combined with the areas of perturbation generated by the injection before and after mixing in the access flow to estimate graft flow. The calculated graft flow was compared to flow measured directly by a transit-time probe on the same carotid artery. RESULTS: Over a 10-fold range, 120-1260 ml/min, graft flow measured by ultrasound velocity dilution agreed well with graft flow measured directly with a scatter of 76 ml/min about the regression line. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound velocity dilution provides a method for measuring flow in the graft accurate enough for clinical evaluation of patients on dialysis.      

Genetic polymorphisms and heart failure.

Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome. There is evidence for a genetic contribution to the pathophysiology of heart failure. Considering the fundamental role of neurohormonal factors in the pathophysiology and progression of cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophy, variants of genes involved in this system are logical candidate genes in heart failure. In this report, genetic polymorphisms of the major neurohormonal systems in heart failure will be discussed. Studies on polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), adrenergic receptor polymorphisms, endothelin (receptor) polymorphisms, and a group of miscellaneous polymorphisms that may be involved in the development or phenotypic expression of heart failure will be reviewed. Research on left ventricular hypertrophy is also included. The majority of genetic association studies focused on the ACE I/D polymorphism. Initial genetic associations have often been difficult to replicate, mainly due to problems in study design and lack of power. Promising results have been obtained with genetic polymorphisms of the RAAS and sympathetic system. Considering the evidence so far, a modifying role for these polymorphisms seems more likely than a role of these variants as susceptibility genes. Besides the need for larger studies to examine the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes, future studies also need to focus on the complexity of these systems and study gene-gene interactions and gene-environment interactions.     

Expressed-emotion development and course of schizophrenic illness: considerations based on results of a CFI replication

This study examines the correlation between development of expressed emotion (EE) in relatives and course of illness of 99 DSM-III schizophrenic patients. Patients whose relatives were high EE at baseline and at the 2nd CFI approximately 20 months later had a poor prognosis at the very outset of the study and an unfavourable course of illness. They had a higher rehospitalisation rate, more symptoms, lower psychosocial assessment, and a poorer 2-year and even 8-year outcome. Patients from families with a fluctuating EE or a consistently low EE had better courses. Expessed emotion is therefore a valid predictor not only of symptomatic relapses, but also of other important aspects of schizophrenia. The connection between EE index and course of illness seerns not to be simply reactive or causal, but complex and non-uniform.     

Combination of ABO blood group incompatibility and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency: effect on hemolysis and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia

The incidence (%) of hyperbilirubinemia (serum bilirubin ≥257 μmol/l) was similar in neonates with a combination of ABO incompatibility and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency (45%), with ABO incompatibility (54%) or G-6-PD deficiency (37%), alone (ns). Carboxyhemoglobin values, corrected for inspired CO, were similarly elevated in all three groups (0.87 ± 0.32%, 0.82 ± 0.29%, 0.76 ± 0.18%, respectively, ns), but correlated with bilirubin only in those with ABO incompatibility alone. ABO-incompatible/G-6-PD-deficient neonates, compared with those with either condition alone, are not at increased risk for hemolysis or hyperbilirubinemia.