[Anticoagulant and bone fragility: which implications for clinical practice?].

The role of certain treatments in the development of bone fragility is well known. Since the 2000s, several studies, conducted in patients on long-term anticoagulants have suggested the involvement of vitamin K antagonist (VKA) in the occurrence of osteoporotic fractures. Since their launch in 2008, the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been widely used.

Usefulness of methadone plasma concentration measurement in patients receiving nevirapine or efavirenz.

Objective: To determine methadone plasma trough and peak concentrations in patients presenting opiate withdrawal symptoms after introduction of nevirapine or efavirenz. To describe the disappearance of these symptoms after methadone titration based on plasma concentrations rather than on the symptoms.

Methods: Nine patients undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and either nevirapine or efavirenz treatment were monitored daily for opiate withdrawal in a specialized drug addiction center.

[Addiction].

The 2009 news in medicine regarding dependence confirm the bio-psycho-social field of addiction medicine and psychiatry. First a statement is made about the risk of cardiac arythmy in opioid substitution treatments. Then a review of the treatment of C hepatitis shows its importance in an addicted population.

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in general practice or in specialized centers: profile of patients in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.

We studied profile of patients (n=1782) treated in specialized centers and general practice (GP) enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs during 2001 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. We found that GPs treated the majority of patients (76%). Specialized centers treated a higher proportion of patients with uncontrolled intravenous use of cocaine and heroin, and prescribed neuroleptics as concomitant medication three times more frequently than GPs.

Difficulties associated with outpatient management of drug abusers by general practitioners. A cross-sectional survey of general practitioners with and without methadone patients in Switzerland.

Background: In Switzerland, general practitioners (GPs) manage most of the patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT).

Methods: Using a cross-sectional postal survey of GPs who treat MMT patients and GPs who do not, we studied the difficulties encountered in the out-patient management of drug-addicted patients. We sent a questionnaire to every GP with MMT patients (556) in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (1,757,000 inhabitants).

Methadone maintenance treatment in the Swiss Canton of Vaud: demographic and clinical data on 1,782 ambulatory patients.

Using data from the Public Health Service, we studied the demographic and clinical characteristics of 1,782 patients enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) during 2001 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud, comparing our findings with the results of a previous study from 1976 to 1986. In 2001, most patients (76.9%) were treated in general practice.