Childhood chronic anterior uveitis associated with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC): successful treatment with topical tacrolimus. Case series

Uveitis treatment involves topical corticosteroids along with cycloplegic-mydriatics. Particularly severe cases may require systemic corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) treatment consists of a brief period of topical corticosteroids and/or cyclosporine. In patients refractory to traditional treatment, the use of 0.1% topical ophtalmic FK- 506 (tacrolimus) ointment has been occasionally reported

Invaliditeit. Rede. aan de Rijksuniversie teit te Utrecht op 14 Mei 1959.

OPLADEN-RUG0

Pharmacokinetics of cefepime in patients with respiratory tract infections.

The steady-state pharmacokinetics of cefepime were evaluated in 10 middle-aged and elderly patients with acute lower respiratory tract infections who were receiving 1 g intravenously every 12 h. One preinfusion and 15 postinfusion serum samples and total urine output were collected over one dosing interval between days 3 and 8 of therapy. Cefepime concentrations in serum over time exhibited a multicompartmental profile. Peak and trough concentrations in serum determined by a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method were 71.2 +/- 17.2 (mean +/- standard deviation) and 6.0 +/- 4.9 mg/liter, respectively. The steady-state volume of distribution was 0.22 +/- 0.05 liter/kg. Elimination half-lives ranged from 1.93 to 6.04 h (3.92 +/- 1.28 h), and total body clearances ranged from 36.9 to 102 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (73.0 +/- 19.7 ml/min per 1.73 m2). The disposition of cefepime at steady state in patients was comparable to previous observations in healthy elderly volunteers. The predictive performance of regression equations derived from single-dose studies in volunteers relating creatinine clearance with total body and renal clearances of cefepime exhibited slight biases (mean predictive errors, -9.7 and 2.1 ml/min per 1.73 m2, respectively) and similar precisions. Predicted and observed total body clearances (63.3 +/- 25.1 versus 73.0 +/- 19.7 ml/min per 1.73 m2, respectively) and renal clearances (51.3 +/- 24.4 versus 49.3 +/- 19.6 ml/min per 1.73 m2, respectively) were not significantly different. The pharmacokinetics of cefepime in infected patients appeared to be unaltered by illness, and the steady-state disposition of cefepime was predictable from data derived from single-dose studies in volunteers

Ruling out Pulmonary Embolism in Patients with (Suspected) COVID-19-A Prospective Cohort Study

Background Diagnostic strategies for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) have not been prospectively evaluated in COVID-19 patients. Methods Prospective, multicenter, outcome study in 707 patients with both (suspected) COVID-19 and suspected PE in 14 hospitals. Patients on chronic anticoagulant therapy were excluded. Informed consent was obtained by opt-out approach. Patients were managed by validated diagnostic strategies for suspected PE. We evaluated the safety (3-month failure rate) and efficiency (number of computed tomography pulmonary angiographies [CTPAs] avoided) of the applied strategies. Results Overall PE prevalence was 28%. YEARS was applied in 36%, Wells rule in 4.2%, and “CTPA only” in 52%; 7.4% was not tested because of hemodynamic or respiratory instability. Within YEARS, PE was considered excluded without CTPA in 29%, of which one patient developed nonfatal PE during follow-up (failure rate 1.4%, 95% CI 0.04–7.8). One-hundred seventeen patients (46%) managed according to YEARS had a negative CTPA, of whom 10 were diagnosed with nonfatal venous thromboembolism (VTE) during follow-up (failure rate 8.8%, 95% CI 4.3–16). In patients managed by CTPA only, 66% had an initial negative CTPA, of whom eight patients were diagnosed with a nonfatal VTE during follow-up (failure rate 3.6%, 95% CI 1.6–7.0). Conclusion Our results underline the applicability of YEARS in (suspected) COVID-19 patients with suspected PE. CTPA could be avoided in 29% of patients managed by YEARS, with a low failure rate. The failure rate after a negative CTPA, used as a sole test or within YEARS, was non-negligible and reflects the high thrombotic risk in these patients, warranting ongoing vigilance