Analysis of appropriateness and safety when discharging patients on triple-antithrombotic therapies.

Purpose: To analyze the appropriateness of triple-antithrombotic therapy based on the 2020 American College of Cardiology (ACC) consensus statement while evaluating safety outcomes for patients with respect to adverse events.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective chart review was conducted using electronic medical records from December 18, 2020, to August 31, 2022. The primary endpoint was the rate of appropriateness for triple-antithrombotic therapy in patients discharged from Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport.

Outcome measures in pediatric polypharmacy research: a scoping review.

Introduction: Various methods have been used to interpret the reports of pediatric polypharmacy across the literature. This is the first scoping review that explores outcome measures in pediatric polypharmacy research.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to describe outcome measures assessed in pediatric polypharmacy research.

A description and opinions of a longitudinal book club for comprehensive pharmacy faculty development.

Introduction: The objectives of this study were to implement a faculty development book club centering on pharmacy education and to evaluate faculty opinions of the process.

Methods: A year-long pharmacy faculty development book club was conducted. Monthly meetings explored a pharmacy education text.

Variation of the prevalence of pediatric polypharmacy: A scoping review.

Purpose: To examine the range of prevalence of pediatric polypharmacy in literature through a scoping review, focusing on factors that contribute to its heterogeneity in order to improve the design and reporting of quality improvement, pharmacovigilance, and research studies.

Methods: We searched Ovid Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Ovid PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science Core Collection databases for studies with concepts of children and polypharmacy, along with a hand search of the bibliographies of six reviews and 30 included studies. We extracted information regarding study design, disease conditions, and prevalence of polypharmacy.

Defining pediatric polypharmacy: A scoping review.

Objectives: Lack of consensus regarding the semantics and definitions of pediatric polypharmacy challenges researchers and clinicians alike. We conducted a scoping review to describe definitions and terminology of pediatric polypharmacy.

Methods: Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and the Web of Science Core Collection databases were searched for English language articles with the concepts of "polypharmacy" and "children".

A transdisciplinary team approach to scoping reviews: the case of pediatric polypharmacy.

Background: Polypharmacy can be either beneficial or harmful to children. We conducted a scoping review to examine the concept of pediatric polypharmacy: its definition, prevalence, extent and gaps in research. In this manuscript, we report our transdisciplinary scoping review methodology.

Inpatient management of acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Alcohol withdrawal is a common condition encountered in the hospital setting after abrupt discontinuation of alcohol in an alcohol-dependent individual. Patients may present with mild symptoms of tremulousness and agitation or more severe symptoms including withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens. Management revolves around early identification of at-risk individuals and symptom assessment using a validated tool such as the revised Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol score.

Factors associated with medication adherence and persistence of treatment for hypertension in a Medicaid population.

Background: Non-adherence with antihypertensive therapy is a significant problem. Prior research has generally focused upon one drug or one drug class. Current information across multiple antihypertensive drug classes is limited.

Disguising the taste of antiretrovirals for pediatric patients infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome: creative flavor compounding and techniques, part 2.

Adherence to antiretrovirals for pediatric patients is challenging for a variety of reasons, many of which are quite obvious. The medication's taste and texture may contribute to a child's resistance to following their regimen. To make the problem of compliance even more complex, there are fewer pediatric-friendly formulations available and fewer alternative options for antiretrovirals when compared to formulations and alternatives available to adults.

Cardiovascular risks and benefits with oral drugs for Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects approximately 321 million people worldwide. It is estimated that about half of these patients will die from cardiovascular complications. In spite of these statistics, medications for diabetes are approved based not on outcomes, but on surrogate markers such as blood glucose or glycosylated hemoglobin.

An elective course on application of clinical pharmacy principles.

Objective: To design and implement an elective therapeutics course and to assess its impact on students' attainment of course outcomes and level of confidence in applying clinical pharmacy principles and pharmacotherapy knowledge.

Design: A 3-credit hour elective for third-year pharmacy students was structured to include problem-based learning (PBL), journal club and case presentations, and drug information activities.

Assessment: Student achievement of curricular outcomes was measured using performance on SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, plan) notes, case and journal club presentations, drug information activities, and peer evaluations.

A medical outreach elective course.

Objective: To design and implement a Medical Outreach Experience elective course and assess its impact on students' level of confidence in organizing future medical outreach trips, providing population-specific pharmaceutical care, and achieving learning outcomes.

Design: A 2-credit hour elective course was designed for second- and third-year pharmacy students. The course was structured to include 3 sections over 1 semester, a 10-week training and preparation phase, followed by a weeklong international outreach experience and post-outreach reflection.

Effects of question formats on student and item performance.

Objective: To determine the effect of 3 variations in test item format on item statistics and student performance.

Methods: Fifteen pairs of directly comparable test questions were written to adhere to (standard scale) or deviate from (nonstandard scale) 3 specific item-writing guidelines. Differences in item difficulty and discrimination were measured between the 2 scales as a whole and for each guideline individually.

Avanafil for treatment of erectile dysfunction: review of its potential.

Avanafil is a medication that was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the management of erectile dysfunction. Avanafil is a new phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor similar to sildenafil and tadalafil. Avanafil was studied in over 1300 patients during clinical trials, including patients with diabetes mellitus and those who had undergone radical prostatectomy, and was found to be more effective than placebo in all men who were randomized to the drug.

Possible acute thrombocytopenia post esomeprazole and hydantoin coadministration.

Thrombocytopenia, defined as a platelet count less than 150 000/µL, occurs as a result of decreased production, sequestration, or peripheral destruction. Drug-induced thrombocytopenia is a clinically important adverse drug event involving many drugs including hydantoins. This report details an acute reaction of thrombocytopenia in a 55-year-old, critically ill, African American male patient after receiving a loading dose of fosphenytoin and a subsequent dose of IV phenytoin.

Thyroid hormone controls the gene expression of HSV-1 LAT and ICP0 in neuronal cells.

Various factors/pathways including hormonal regulation have been suggested to control herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) latency and reactivation. Our computer analysis identified a DNA repeat containing thyroid hormone-responsive elements (TRE) in the regulatory region of HSV-1 latency-associated transcript (LAT). Thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine, T(3)) functions via its receptor TR (thyroid hormone receptor), a transcription factor.

Regulation of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase gene expression by thyroid hormone receptor in cultured neuronal cells.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) undergoes acute infection in epithelial cells followed by establishment of latency in the neurons of trigeminal ganglia. The latent virus maintains a dormant state and can recurs spontaneously, suggesting transcriptional silencing and reactivation occur in neurons. Computer data mining identified a nuclear hormone response element (NRE), the binding site for the thyroid hormone receptor (TR) or other nuclear hormone receptor, in the promoter of HSV-1 thymidine kinase (TK).