[Vancomycin poisoning successfully treated with intermittent hemodialysis: A case report]. / Un cas d'intoxication à la vancomycine traité avec succès par hémodialyse intermittente.

We report a case of a 43 years old man who was intoxicated by a 25g vancomycin overload. An anuric acute renal failure rapidly occured. The vancomycinemia was measured as high as 360mg/L (normal range: 15-35mg/L). We started an intermittent hemodialysis program to clear out the vancomycin. The vancomycinemia decreased below the treshold of our laboratory after the eighth session. Three supplementary sessions were needed because of a persistant oliguria. The kidney function slowly improved and was back to normal (seric creatinin: 80micromol/L) 3 weeks after the patient had gone home. To our knowledge, it is the first success of this technic concerning vancomycin poisoning in adults with anuric kidney failure.

Biopsy-proven acute tubular necrosis associated with vancomycin in an adult patient.

Vancomycin causing acute kidney injury has traditionally been associated with acute interstitial nephritis. There have been a few case reports of biopsy-proven acute tubular necrosis (ATN) from vancomycin in the pediatric literature and only one previous report in the adult population. Here, we report a second case of biopsy-proven ATN resulting from vancomycin toxicity.

Have advances in extracorporeal removal techniques changed the indications for their use in poisonings?

During the past 25 years, numerous changes have taken place in the use of hemodialysis as a therapeutic modality. Advances in technologies and a progression in our collective understanding of the pharmacokinetics of certain xenobiotics have resulted in alterations in the indications, effectiveness, and safety of hemodialysis. However, these changes have not necessarily been reflected in the current published data regarding treatment of intoxications. Reported clearance rates often reflect what was achievable in the 1970s and 1980s, and more recent reports are frequently lacking. Our goal in this review is to summarize the changes in hemodialysis and in other extracorporeal removal technologies and highlight the effects of these changes on the current indications for hemodialysis of the poisoned patient. Changes in dialysis performance that are reviewed in this article include the use of high-efficiency and high-flux dialysis membranes, improved hemodynamic stability because of ultrafiltration control, and the use of bicarbonate as a source of base. We review the indications for hemodialysis for removal of specific toxins, including vancomycin, methotrexate, carbamazepine, and valproic acid.

Biopsy-proven acute tubular necrosis in a child attributed to vancomycin intoxication.

Acute renal failure in children treated with vancomycin typically presents with interstitial nephritis. There is debate as to the extent of direct tubular toxicity attributable to vancomycin, especially in the absence of aminoglycoside treatment. We report a case of acute tubular necrosis (ATN) associated with vancomycin toxicity in an 8-year-old boy where there is no likely alternate explanation for toxic or ischemic injury. Treatment with hemodialysis resulted in the elimination of vancomycin from the circulation and subsequent improvement in renal function.

Management of hypophosphatemia induced by high-flux hemodiafiltration for the treatment of vancomycin toxicity: intravenous phosphorus therapy versus use of a phosphorus-enriched dialysate.

Intensive high-flux hemodiafiltration is often used in the management of vancomycin toxicity. We describe two patients who developed hypophosphatemia as a consequence of this form of therapy. The first patient was treated with an intravenous phosphorus infusion. For the second patient, hypophosphatemia was corrected, during hemodiafiltration, with the use of a phosphorus-enriched dialysate. The latter dialysate was prepared by adding sodium phosphate salts to the "base concentrate" of a dual-concentrate, bicarbonate-based dialysate delivery system. This simple method was more efficient than intravenous therapy in ameliorating the hypophosphatemia secondary to aggressive hemodiafiltration treatment.

Hemodiafiltration for vancomycin overdose in a neonate with end-stage renal failure.

We describe continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHD) with a high-flux membrane as a novel treatment modality for vancomycin overdose associated with renal insufficiency. CVVHD was used in a 6-day-old male with a solitary hypodysplastic kidney, suspected sepsis, and anuric renal failure who subsequently received an accidental tenfold overdose of vancomycin. We furthermore present evidence for the importance of countercurrent dialysis in addition to continuous hemofiltration for optimal vancomycin removal.

Charcoal hemoperfusion in a child with vancomycin overdose and chronic renal failure.

A 14-month-old girl with chronic renal insufficiency received a massive overdose of vancomycin, resulting in worsened renal failure and ototoxicity. We report the use of combined charcoal hemoperfusion and dialysis to accelerate vancomycin removal in this patient.

Multiple-dose activated charcoal in an accidental vancomycin overdose.

BACKGROUND: Multiple-dose activated charcoal may enhance the enterocapillary clearance of vancomycin. CASE REPORT: A 17-day-old female neonate born with congenital meningomyelocele and Arnold-Chiari malformation was iatrogenically overdosed with a 500 mg intravenous bolus of vancomycin during a shunt operation. The Red Man's Syndrome developed within minutes, characterized by sudden hypotension, skin rash and cyanosis. Serum vancomycin level at one hour after the injection was 165.7 micrograms/mL, as measured by an enzyme immunoassay method (EMIT). Multiple dose activated charcoal, 1 g/kg, was first given five hours after injection, and continued every four hours for 12 doses. The half-life of vancomycin during charcoal administration was calculated to be 9.4 h or less than the reported 13.4-33.7 h half-life in normal neonates. The neonate's renal function tests and brainstem auditory responses remained normal. CONCLUSIONS: Gastrointestinal dialysis with multiple-dose activated charcoal without cathartics appeared to shorten the elimination half-life of vancomycin.

Exchange transfusion and multidose activated charcoal following vancomycin overdose.

The inadvertent administration of a concentrated vancomycin solution to a 47 day-old premature male twin resulted in extremely high vancomycin levels and altered renal function. A 1.5 volume exchange transfusion did not change the measured vancomycin level. Multiple doses of oral activated charcoal, 1 g/kg, were administered beginning 5 h after the exchange transfusion. A calculated half-life of vancomycin before the exchange transfusion was 35 h. The half-life after the exchange transfusion and during charcoal administration was calculated to be 12 h. The only apparent adverse effect of this vancomycin overdose was reversible nephrotoxicity. The infant's hearing, tested by brainstem auditory responses, was normal. The higher volume of distribution of vancomycin in infants may preclude removing significant amounts of this drug by exchange transfusion. Gastrointestinal dialysis with activated charcoal warrants consideration in cases of vancomycin overdose in neonates.

Acute renal failure owing to inadvertent vancomycin overdose. Vancomycin removal by continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration.

Acute renal failure developed in a patient who received 56 grams of vancomycin intravenously over a 10 day period. The resulting serum vancomycin level was 284 micrograms per ml and declined to 140 micrograms per ml in a linear fashion with the institution of continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration (CAVH). Our conclusion is that high blood vancomycin levels may be nephrotoxic and CAVH may be an effective means of vancomycin removal in patients with acute renal failure.

Toxicologic and pharmacokinetic evaluation of a case of vancomycin intoxication during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

The use of vancomycin is rapidly increasing due to the emergence of strains of staphylococci resistant to betalactam antibiotics. In this communication the pharmacokinetics of an overdose of vancomycin in a patient during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is reported. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) are used to assess ototoxicity. It could be shown that by shortening the dwell time, the apparent CAPD flow was increased and the vancomycin clearance was also increased. This may explain in part the differences in the values of vancomycin t1/2 in this patient (21 h) as compared to other studies (60-120 h). The age of the patient (3.5 years) may also have influenced the t1/2. Using brainstem auditory evoked potentials as a parameter to assess ototoxicity, it was shown that this patient suffered no damage from the overdose.