The Risks of Patient Pill Splitting: A Case Report and Review.

The cutting or splitting of pills can be used by patients to create an intermediate dose or to save money in situations where a higher dose is priced at relatively the same cost as a lower dose. A number of studies of selected medications have concluded that pill splitting in general can be done without adverse effects, with the exception of enteric-coated medications and extended-release medications. Individual patients should be assessed for evidence of patient understanding, as well as the physical abilities for pill splitting.

Bridging advanced myeloma patients to subsequent treatments and clinical trials with classical chemotherapy and stem cell support.

Rapidly progressing relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) patients with compromised marrow have limited treatment options. Thus, non-myeloablative chemotherapy with a stem cell boost (SCB) may provide disease control and hematopoietic improvement as bridge to subsequent therapies. We identified 96 patients who received a SCB between January 2011 and December 2019 at the Mount Sinai Hospital.

A Walk in the Park: A Case of Babesiosis in the South Bronx.

Babesiosis, mainly endemic within the Northeastern and upper Midwestern regions of the United States, is a zoonotic disease that invades and lyses red blood cells, which can result in hemolytic anemia. Its decreased incidence in comparison to Lyme disease is often attributed to the greater asymptomatic infection proportion and insufficient physician awareness or suspicion of this disease. Here we describe a case of undifferentiated febrile illness with hemolytic anemia that yielded the diagnosis of babesiosis.

A review of a novel, Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ibrutinib.

Ibrutinib, a Bruton's kinase inhibitor, was granted an accelerated approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in November, 2013, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma and subsequently for the treatment of relapsed refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia in February, 2014. In the pivotal phase 2 study of 111 patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, the overall response rate in patients who received ibrutinib 560 mg daily was 68%. The median progression-free survival was 13.

Prognostic use of lactate to predict inpatient mortality in acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Background: Gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) is a common complaint seen in the emergency department (ED) and carries a small but significant mortality rate. The principal purpose of this investigation was to determine whether an ED venous lactate as part of initial laboratory studies is predictive of mortality in patients admitted to the hospital for GIH.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study for 6 years at an urban tertiary referral hospital included all ED patients with the charted diagnosis of acute GIH.

Glucarpidase (voraxaze), a carboxypeptidase enzyme for methotrexate toxicity.

Glucarpidase (Voraxaze) for methotrexate toxicity.