Evaluation of Triple Whammy Prescriptions After the Implementation of a Drug Safety Algorithm.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The term triple whammy (TW) refers to the concomitant use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, diuretics, and angiotensin system inhibitors; this combination significantly increases the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI). To prevent this serious complication, we developed an electronic algorithm that detects TW prescriptions in patients with additional risk factors such as old age and impaired kidney function. The algorithm alerts a clinical pharmacist who then evaluates and forwards the alert to the prescribing physician. METHODS: We evaluated the performance of this algorithm in a retrospective observational study of clinical data from all adult patients admitted to the Cantonal Hospital of Aarau in Switzerland in 2021. We identified all patients who received a TW prescription, had a TW alert, or developed AKI during TW therapy. Algorithm performance was evaluated by calculating the sensitivity and specificity as a primary endpoint and determining the acceptance rate among clinical pharmacists and physicians as a secondary endpoint. RESULTS: Among 21,332 hospitalized patients, 290 patients had a TW prescription, of which 12 patients experienced AKI. Overall, 216 patients were detected by the alert algorithm, including 11 of 12 patients with AKI; the algorithm sensitivity is 88.3% with a specificity of 99.7%. Physician acceptance was high (77.7%), but clinical pharmacists were reluctant to forward the alerts to prescribers in some cases. CONCLUSION: The TW algorithm is highly sensitive and specific in identifying patients with TW therapy at risk for AKI. The algorithm may help to prevent AKI in TW patients in the future.

Implementation and outcome of an electronic tool for detection of paracetamol overdose in a tertiary care hospital.

Background Paracetamol is a widely used analgesic and antipyretic drug in hospitals. The development and implementation of an electronic tool with algorithm-based alerts (e-agent) in a clinical information system could reduce the risk of overdose. Objective In this study, the performance of such an e-agent developed to detect paracetamol overdosing was analyzed. Setting Swiss tertiary care hospital. Method All patients ≥ 18 years old who had documented paracetamol administration in the used clinical information system during 2017 were retrospectively screened for an absolute and relative overdosing of paracetamol (> 4 g and > 60 mg/kg/24 h, respectively). This was compared with the patients for which the e-agent had, during the same period, prospectively made an alert for absolute or relative overdosing or for a dosing interval < 4 h (potentially leading to an absolute overdose). Main outcome measure E-agent performance defined as detection rate. Results of the 13,196 adult patients who received at least one dose of paracetamol, 2292 were exposed at least once to > 4 g/day (17.4%), 39 of these (0.3% of total) were given > 5 g paracetamol. None received more than 6 g. The e-agent detected 87.2% of cases with doses > 5 g. In most cases (87.9%), the cause of the absolute overdose was a switch from intravenous to oral paracetamol, resulting in an absolute overdose the day of the change. The maximal daily dose of 60 mg/kg was exceeded in 30.1% of patients weighing < 50 kg, as well as in 42.3% of patients weighing < 60 kg. The e-agent detected 73.4% and 75.5% of those cases. Multiple absolute overdoses were found in 204 patients. The e-agent detected 72.7% of those. 90 multiple overdoses occurred during the same hospital stay and 11 on consecutive days. Conclusion Paracetamol overdose is a common medication error in hospitalized patients, which may occur due to process failures such as wrong timing when changing administration route or when factors like comedication and low body weight are ignored. The e-agent detects cases of paracetamol overdose, and therefore, can help prevent this kind of medication error in the clinical setting.

Therapeutic duplication of anticoagulants: a retrospective study of frequency and consequences in a tertiary referral hospital.

BACKGROUND: Anticoagulants are commonly prescribed in medical practices and could be of significant harm in the case of medication errors. We conducted a retrospective observational study to determine the frequency and consequences of the therapeutic duplication of anticoagulants (TDA). As a secondary objective, we aimed to determine the characteristics of the population in which TDA occurs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study among admitted patients who concomitantly received at least two anticoagulants from August 2017 to August 2018. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients with TDA are included in the research. The patients with TDA have a mean age of 73. The TDA population has a high rate of associated comorbidities with 69% of patients having arterial hypertonia, 40% with chronic kidney disease, 26% with a history of malignancy, and 20.5% with a history of stroke. More than 65% of patients were under anticoagulation before admission, mostly due to atrial fibrillation. The TDA occurred in more than 95% of cases in the first week or the last week of hospitalization. Patients had a high risk of bleeding prior to the TDA-event with about 62.5% of TDA patients having a HAS-BLED score at least 3. A total of 8 patients showed a significant Hemoglobin (Hb)-drop of at least 10 g/L within 24 h after TDA-event. Two patients had a new or worsened hematuria following TDA-event. CONCLUSION: TDA occurred in 0.8% of patients who were under anticoagulation and in 6.7% of patients who received direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). TDA led in about 7.4% of cases to hemoglobin-relevant bleeding. The old patients with significant comorbidities and a high HAS-BLED score were mainly affected. The female gender and presence of anemia independently predicted the occurrence of bleeding following TDA.

Breakthrough Pain Associated with a Reduction in Serum Buprenorphine Concentration during Dialysis.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of breakthrough pain associated with a reduction in serum buprenorphine concentration during dialysis. METHODS: Pharmacokinetic sampling of total and free buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine in an 80 year old male undergoing haemodialysis three times per week who received 5760 µg oral and transdermal buprenorphine daily was performed. The patient's serum albumin concentration was 23g/l (reference range: 35-52 g/l). FINDINGS: Pharmacokinetic sampling revealed a free buprenorphine fraction of 32% (consistent with the hypoalbuminaemia), which was markedly reduced at the end of dialysis (free buprenorphine concentration 2.4 µg/l before vs. <0.1 µg/l after dialysis). IMPLICATIONS: Clinicians should be aware that some patients may require extra buprenorphine doses during dialysis to prevent significant falls in the concentration of active drug.

[ Preventing adverse drug events using clinical decision support systems]. / Verhindern von unerwünschten Arzneimittelereignissen mit Hilfe von elektronischen Entscheidungsunterstützungssystemen.

Adverse drug events pose a great risk to patients, are an everyday clinical problem and can have potential/ega/ consequences. Computerized physician order entry or computerized provider order entry (CPOE} in combination with clinical decision support systems {CDSS) are popular and aim to reduce prescribing errors as well as identifying potentially harmful drug drug interactions. The quantifiable benejit these systems bring to patients, has however, yet to be definitively proven. This article focusses on the current standpoint of CPOE-/CDSS, their risks and benefits, the potential for improvement and their perspectives for the future.

Catheter ablation of non-sustained focal right atrial tachycardia guided by virtual non-contact electrograms.

AIMS: Conventional mapping and catheter ablation of non-sustained focal atrial tachycardia (AT) can be challenging and time consuming. We examined the characteristics and clinical outcomes after catheter ablation of recurrent, sustained AT presenting as non-sustained tachycardia during electrophysiological studies (EPSs), using a non-contact mapping system. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 9 of 88 consecutive patients undergoing ablation of sustained right AT, the tachycardia was non-sustained during EPSs, precluding conventional mapping. We used a non-contact system to map and guide the catheter ablation of brief induced episodes of AT. Atrial tachycardia originated in the crista terminalis (CT) in three patients, tricuspid annulus (TA) in four, posterior right atrium (RA) in one, and mid cavo-tricuspid isthmus in one patient. A QS morphology of the earliest virtual unipolar electrogram was systematically found at the site of successful catheter ablation. The breakout sites were near the CT in six, TA in three, posterior RA in one and anterior RA in one patient. In two patients, two separate breakout sites were identified. All AT (i) were focal and (ii) propagated preferentially to the breakout site(s) before depolarizing the atria. A mean of 5 ± 2 applications of radiofrequency energy was delivered without complications. Procedural duration and fluoroscopic exposure with the non-contact mapping system were 44 and 12 min, respectively. Over a follow-up of 16 ± 11 months, eight of nine patients remained asymptomatic, while in one patient a 'novel' AT emerged during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Catheter ablation of non-sustained AT, using a non-contact mapping system, was safe and eliminated sustained AT.

Use of a novel needle wire in patients undergoing transseptal puncture associated with severe septal tenting.

INTRODUCTION: An increasing number of patients undergo left atrial ablation procedures, since several approaches have proven efficacy in the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Although transseptal catheterization was generally shown be a safe technique, it harbors the principal risk of cardiac injury. Therefore, there is a need for a safe and effective tool to enable transseptal puncture in difficult cases as well. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 158 consecutive patients, a transseptal puncture was intended for mapping and ablation of left atrial tachycardias. In seven patients of this series transseptal puncture using different sheaths and needle designs, the operators failed to cross the interatrial septum as a result of severe tenting. Three patients were known to have a septal aneurysm; a redo procedure was performed in two patients. In the remaining patients, there was no obvious explanation for the difficulty in crossing the interatrial septum conventionally. In all seven patients, a 120-cm-long nitinol guidewire ("needle wire") with a 0.014-inch diameter was used to cross the atrial septum with the following idea: after tenting the fossa ovalis with the transseptal dilator and the Brockenbrough needle positioned just inside the tip, effortless advancement of the needle wire perforates the membranous fossa. Unsupported by the needle and dilator, the tip of the wire immediately assumes a "J" shape, rendering it incapable of further tissue penetration after its entry into the left atrium. In all seven patients, the needle wire could be placed into a left pulmonary vein. In five patients, a single attempt was sufficient to reach the left atrium with the wire, two patients needed two and three attempts, respectively. No complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Additional use of a needle wire to perform transseptal puncture in a subset of patients at higher risk for complications appears safe and effective.

Pulmonary vein isolation by duty-cycled bipolar and unipolar antrum ablation using a novel multielectrode ablation catheter system: first clinical results.

BACKGROUND: The electrical disconnection of the pulmonary veins (PV) plays an important role in the ablation strategy of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Circumferential antral ablation with a conventional ablation technique using a steerable ablation catheter is sometimes difficult to perform and does not always result in isolation of the targeted PV. METHODS: Patients with symptomatic PAF were treated with a novel circular mapping/ablation catheter (PVAC). Ablation was performed in the antral region of the PV with a power-modulated bipolar/unipolar RF generator using 8-10 W until isolation of the vein was achieved. Seven-day Holter monitor recordings were performed off antiarrhythmic drugs at 3 and 6 months after the initial procedure. A subgroup of patients had received an implantable recorder before ablation, and the device was interrogated at the same time. The primary objective of this study is acute isolation of the targeted PV, and the second objective is clinical efficacy with a short-term follow-up. RESULTS: In 73 patients, 290 PV could be reached with the PVAC. Antral ablation was performed in 244 PV showing PV potentials. Acutely, 243 PV (99%) were isolated with the PVAC after 21+/-7 energy applications per patient with a mean fluoroscopy time of 20+/-11 min. Total procedure time was 122+/-27 min. No complications were observed. Follow-up at 3 and 6 months showed freedom from AF in 61 of 73 (84%) patients and 38 of 45 patients (85%), respectively, off antiarrhythmic drugs. CONCLUSIONS: PV isolation by duty-cycled unipolar/bipolar RF ablation can be effectively and safely performed with a circular, decapolar catheter. Clinical results at 3 and 6 months after ablation are encouraging with the need for longer follow-up intervals.

Results of short-term and long-term pulmonary vein isolation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation using duty-cycled bipolar and unipolar radiofrequency energy.

BACKGROUND: Electrical disconnection of the pulmonary veins (PV) plays an important role in the ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Antral ablation using a conventional steerable ablation catheter often is technically challenging and time consuming. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients (mean age 58 +/- 11 years) with symptomatic paroxysmal AF underwent ablation with a circular mapping/ablation decapolar catheter (PVAC). Ablation was performed in the antral region of the PVs with a power-modulated bipolar/unipolar radiofrequency (RF) generator using 8-10 W delivered simultaneously through 2-10 electrodes, as selected by the operator. Seven-day Holter monitor recordings were performed off antiarrhythmic drugs at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up, and patients were requested to visit the hospital in the event of ongoing palpitations. All follow-up patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1 with a follow-up of less than 1 year and group 2 patients completing a 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Overall, 338 of 339 targeted PVs (99%) were isolated with the PVAC with a mean of 24 +/- 9 RF applications per patient, a mean total procedure time of 125 +/- 28 minutes, and a mean fluoroscopy time of 21 +/- 13 minutes. Freedom from AF off antiarrhythmic drugs was found in 82 and 79% of group 1 and group 2 patients, respectively. No procedure-related complications were observed. CONCLUSION: PV isolation by duty-cycled unipolar/bipolar RF ablation can be effectively and safely performed with a circular, decapolar catheter. Twelve-month follow-up data compare favorably with early postablation results, indicating stable effects over time.