Drug-induced hepatic injury : analysis of clinicopathological patterns with the help of voluntary reporting

This study is focused on drug-induced hepatic injury. Drug-induced hepatic injury includes many different patterns varying from necrosis or cholestasis to vascular and neoplastic disorders. These may present acutely or insidiously after years of use of the suspected drug. Some drugs are the cause of a mainly hepatocellular pattern of injury (e.g.methyldopa), whereas the pattern caused by other drugs is predominantly cholestatic (e.g. contraceptive steroids) (2). The diagnosis 'drug-induced hepatic injury' is often made by exclusion of other potential factors. Unlike several forms of viral hepatitis where serologic investigation may confirm the diagnosis (e.g. hepatitis A and B, infectious mononucleosis), in cases of drug-induced hepatic injury a specific marker is usually absent. Knowledge about the pattern of hepatic injury which is most frequently caused by a particular drug would be a help in the differential diagnosis

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 an

Drug-induced chest pain and myocardial infarction. Reports to a national centre and review of the literature

Objectives: To analyse reports of drug-induced myocardial infarction and chest pain sent to a national reporting centre. To review which drugs were suspected of exhibiting these adverse events and what mechanisms were involved. Methods: During the 20-year period 1975 through 1994, a total of 19,141 reports on adverse reactions to drugs were received by the Netherlands Centre for Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs. Of these 19 141 reports, 220 (1.1%) were concerned with drug-induced chest pain or myocardial infarction. After excluding reports in which the causal relationship was unlikely, poorly documented reports and reports on cases of overdosage, 183 reports (84%) were analysed. Results: There were 130 reports (71%) of drug-induced chest pain and 53 reports (29%) of drug-induced myocardial infarction. A total of 104 reports concerned females (57%). The most frequently reported suspected drugs were the antimigraine drug sumatriptan (33 reports, 4 concerning myocardial inf

Improving lung cancer survival; time to move on

Background: During the past decades, numerous efforts have been made to decrease the death rate among lung cancer patients. Nonetheless, the improvement in long-term survival has been limited and lung cancer is still a devastating disease.Discussion: With this article we would like to point out that survival of lung cancer could be strongly improved by controlling two pivotal prognostic factors: stage and treatment. This is corresponding with recent reports that show a decrease in lung cancer mortality by screening programs. In addition, modulation of the patient's immune system by immunotherapy either as monotherapy or combined with conventional cancer treatments offers the prospect of tailoring treatments much more precisely and has also been shown to lead to a better response to treatment and overall survival of non-small cell lung cancer patients.Summary: Since only small improvements in survival can be expected in advanced disease with the use of conventional therapies, more research should be focused on lung cancer screening programs and patient tailored immunotherapy with or without conventional therapies. If these approaches are clinically combined in a standard multidisciplinary policy we might be able to advance the survival of patients with lung cancer