Clinical Pharmacokinetic Monitoring of Free Valproic Acid Levels: A Systematic Review.

Background: Current guidelines recommend therapeutic drug monitoring as a critical component of valproic acid (VPA) therapy. Due to high protein binding, the active unbound (free) portion of VPA can be misrepresented by total VPA serum levels in certain clinical scenarios. Monitoring free VPA serum levels may be warranted when assessing the clinical response to VPA therapy.

Temporal and external validation of the fullPIERS model for the prediction of adverse maternal outcomes in women with pre-eclampsia.

The fullPIERS model is a risk prediction model developed to predict adverse maternal outcomes within 48 h for women admitted with pre-eclampsia. External validation of the model is required before implementation for clinical use. We assessed the temporal and external validity of the fullPIERS model in high income settings using five cohorts collected between 2003 and 2016, from tertiary hospitals in Canada, the United States of America, Finland and the United Kingdom.

Labetalol for hypertension in pregnancy.

Introduction: Labetalol is one of the most commonly used antihypertensive medications for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy, an increasingly common and leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide.

Areas Covered: The literature reviewed included the 2014 Canadian national pregnancy hypertension guideline and its references. The additional published literature was retrieved through searches of Medline, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library using appropriate controlled vocabulary (e.