[Prescription of acetaminophen in five French hospitals: What are the practices?].

Aim: Acetaminophen is widely used in hospital settings and often considered as nontoxic. We conducted a multicentric study in order to evaluate its proper use.

Method: Prescriptions from five general hospitals were analyzed, according to dose adjustments required in renal or liver failure, weight or chronic alcoholism, determined using a literature review.

[Prevention of preparation errors of cytotoxic drugs in centralized units: from epidemiology to quality assurance].

The centralized preparation of cytotoxic drugs is supposed to help preventing medication errors. Nevertheless, the residual risk of preparation errors has been demonstrated. Above all, prevention is based on the quality assurance policy.

[Economic impact of outpatient chemotherapy in multiple myeloma].

The development of alternatives to hospitalisation is mandatory in cancer patients. A retrospective analysis compared the costs relative to two modalities of administration of VAD chemotherapy (hospital versus outpatient) in multiple myeloma. This study was carried out from the perspective of the French health care system, including direct hospital and ambulatory costs.

Long-term toxicity of antithymocyte globulin induction may vary with choice of agent: a single-center retrospective study.

Background: Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) preparations are frequently used as induction treatment in renal transplantation, but little is known about the clinical equivalence of these different agents. We performed a retrospective, single-center study to compare the long-term clinical effects of ATG Fresenius (ATGF) and Thymoglobulin (SangStat, Fremont, CA) in renal transplant recipients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 194 consecutive renal transplant recipients were included who had undergone transplantation in our center between June 1993 and April 2001 and had received ATGF or Thymoglobulin as induction treatment.