Drugs That May Cause or Exacerbate Heart Failure: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Heart failure is a common, costly, and debilitating syndrome that is associated with a highly complex drug regimen, a large number of comorbidities, and a large and often disparate number of healthcare providers. All of these factors conspire to increase the risk of heart failure exacerbation by direct myocardial toxicity, drug-drug interactions, or both. This scientific statement is designed to serve as a comprehensive and accessible source of drugs that may cause or exacerbate heart failure to assist healthcare providers in improving the quality of care for these patients.

Key articles and guidelines in the management of hypertension: 2008 update.

Hypertension remains a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The optimal choice of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment regimens is based on a plethora of published literature. This compilation is the initial update to the Key Articles and Guidelines in the Management of Hypertension authored by members of the Cardiology Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, which appeared in Pharmacotherapy in 2004.

Prevalence of anemia in clinic patients with heart failure and cost analysis of epoetin treatment.

Study Objectives: To determine the prevalence of anemia in an outpatient heart failure clinic, describe the type of anemia in patients treated there, and evaluate the potential costs associated with epoetin therapy in this cohort.

Design: Single-center, retrospective cohort analysis (part 1) and a literature-based economic decision analysis (part 2).

Data Source: Medical records from a multidisciplinary, outpatient, heart failure clinic, and published hospitalization and drug-use data.

Efficacy and safety of a furosemide continuous infusion following cardiac surgery.

Objective: To review the literature regarding the efficacy and safety of continuous intravenous infusion of loop diuretics following cardiac surgery.

Data Sources: Articles were identified through a MEDLINE search (1966-March 2006) using the key words furosemide, bumetanide, torsemide, ethacrynic acid, loop diuretics, continuous infusions, intravenous infusions, surgery, cardiac surgery, cardiovascular surgery, and thoracic surgery. Search results were limited to studies in human subjects published in English.

Adherence to the NASPE guideline for amiodarone monitoring at a medical university.

Objective: Amiodarone is an effective antiarrhythmic, but the clinical usefulness of this agent is complicated by its extensive side-effect profile, which necessitates careful patient selection and frequent monitoring. The purpose of this study was to quantify adherence to published recommendations for baseline monitoring when initiating inpatient amiodarone therapy at a university teaching hospital and determine whether appropriate serial monitoring of chronic amiodarone therapy (>or= 6 months) is occurring in the outpatient setting.

Methods: A retrospective review of electronic medical records was conducted for inpatients at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) who received amiodarone between November 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004, and for a subset of outpatients who had received amiodarone therapy for at least 6 months.

Cardiovascular drug therapy in women.

Cardiovascular disease has been the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in American women; yet, until recently, there was no mandate to specifically include women in clinical trials of the major cardiovascular drugs. Despite new regulations, there is still a lack of readily available data for the clinician to use when planning drug therapy for women, as many of the drugs in use today were developed and tested prior to the new regulations being in effect. The purpose of this article is to provide advanced practice nurses with the most current information on the use of cardiovascular drugs in women.

Experience with an adult alcohol withdrawal syndrome practice guideline in internal medicine patients.

Study Objective: To standardize treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in internal medicine patients using an adult AWS practice guideline with a symptom-triggered management approach.

Design: Prospective interventional (pilot group) and retrospective (control group).

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Biliary sludge and hyperbilirubinemia associated with ceftriaxone in an adult: case report and review of the literature.

Ceftriaxone is a commonly used third-generation cephalosporin that has antimicrobial activity against many gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. Generally, ceftriaxone is a safe antibiotic; however, symptomatic biliary sludge has been reported in rare instances, most of which have involved children. It is uncommon for ceftriaxone to cause increases in laboratory indexes, such as bilirubin levels.

Cost effectiveness of ibutilide with prophylactic magnesium in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Background: In the Treatment with Ibutilide and Magnesium Evaluation (TIME) study, a retrospective multicentre cohort trial, prophylactic magnesium was found to improve the antiarrhythmic efficacy of ibutilide as demonstrated by an increase in the rate of successful chemical conversion and reduction in the need for direct current cardioversion (DCC).

Objective: The primary objective of this piggyback cost-effectiveness analysis of the TIME study was to compare the cost per successful conversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) for ibutilide in the presence and absence of magnesium prophylaxis. A secondary objective was to determine whether specific factors predict costs in the conversion of AF.

Assessment of hypothyroidism in patients with chronic heart failure.

Study Objective: To determine whether appropriate thyroid function measurements were being conducted in patients receiving care at a multidisciplinary heart failure clinic.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: University-affiliated outpatient clinic.

Parecoxib for parenteral analgesia in postsurgical patients.

Objective: To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy and safety studies, adverse effects, drug interactions, and dosage and administration of parecoxib sodium, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor.

Data Sources: Information was obtained from MEDLINE searches of the English-language literature (1996-May 2003). Search terms included parecoxib, parecoxib sodium, SC-69124A, and selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor.

Digoxin in heart failure.

Digoxin is an agent with a long history of use in the management of heart failure; its benefits have just been quantified in recent years. It has long been known that digoxin provides a small amount of inotropic augmentation; however, it is now realized that digoxin also modulates the neurohormonal activation that occurs in heart failure. Although long-term therapy with digoxin does not decrease mortality, it does provide clinical benefit in terms of improved exercise tolerance and decreased hospitalizations across all severities of heart failure.

Impact of prophylactic i.v. magnesium on the efficacy of ibutilide for conversion of atrial fibrillation or flutter.

The impact of prophylactic i.v. magnesium on the efficacy of ibutilide for conversion of atrial fibrillation and flutter to normal sinus rhythm was studied.

Stability of furosemide in human albumin solution.

Objective: To determine the chemical stability of furosemide in human albumin solution over a 28-day period and to assess admixtures for microbiologic contamination.

Methods: Samples were prepared by mixing furosemide injectable solution and 25% human albumin solution in a 1:1 molar ratio. Six bulk containers were prepared and stored in the dark: 3 under refrigeration (approximately 4 degrees C) and 3 at room temperature (approximately 25 degrees C).