Impact of the 2018 revised Pregnancy Prevention Programme by the European Medicines Agency on the use of oral retinoids in females of childbearing age in Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: In March 2018, the European pregnancy prevention programme for oral retinoids was updated as part of risk minimisation measures (RMM), emphasising their contraindication in pregnant women. Objective: To measure the impact of the 2018 revision of the RMMs in Europe by assessing the utilisation patterns of isotretinoin, alitretinoin and acitretin, contraceptive measures, pregnancy testing, discontinuation, and pregnancy occurrence concomitantly with a retinoid prescription. Methods: An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis to compare level and trend changes after the risk minimisation measures implementation was conducted on a cohort of females of childbearing age (12-55 years of age) from January 2010 to December 2020, derived from six electronic health data sources in four countries: Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, and Italy. Monthly utilisation figures (incidence rates [IR], prevalence rates [PR] and proportions) of oral retinoids were calculated, as well as discontinuation rates, contraception coverage, pregnancy testing, and rates of exposed pregnancies to oral retinoids, before and after the 2018 RMMs. Results: From 10,714,182 females of child-bearing age, 88,992 used an oral retinoid at any point during the study period (mean age 18.9-22.2 years old). We found non-significant level and trend changes in incidence or prevalence of retinoid use in females of child-bearing age after the 2018 RMMs. The reason of discontinuation was unknown in >95% of cases. Contraception use showed a significant increase trend in Spain; for other databases this information was limited. Pregnancy testing was hardly recorded thus was not possible to model ITS analyses. After the 2018 RMM, rates of pregnancy occurrence during retinoid use, and start of a retinoid during a pregnancy varied from 0.0 to 0.4, and from 0.2 to 0.8, respectively. Conclusion: This study shows a limited impact of the 2018 RMMs on oral retinoids utilisation patterns among females of child-bearing age in four European countries. Pregnancies still occur during retinoid use, and oral retinoids are still prescribed to pregnant women. Contraception and pregnancy testing information was limited in most databases. Regulators, policymakers, prescribers, and researchers must rethink implementation strategies to avoid any pregnancy becoming temporarily related to retinoid use.

Impact of 2018 EU Risk Minimisation Measures and Revised Pregnancy Prevention Programme on Utilisation and Prescribing Trends of Medicinal Products Containing Valproate: An Interrupted Time Series Study.

INTRODUCTION: Due to established teratogenicity of valproates, the EU risk minimisation measures (RMMs) with a pregnancy prevention programme (PPP) for valproate were updated in March 2018. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of the 2018 EU RMMs on valproate utilisation in five European countries/regions. METHODS: A multi-database, times series study of females of childbearing potential (12-55 years) was conducted using electronic medical records from five countries/regions (01.01.2010-31.12.2020): Denmark, Tuscany (Italy), Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK. Clinical and demographic information from each database was transformed to the ConcePTION Common Data Model, quality checks were conducted and a distributed analysis was performed using common scripts. Incident and prevalent use of valproate, proportion of discontinuers and switchers to alternative medicine, frequency of contraception coverage during valproate use, and occurrence of pregnancies during valproate exposure were estimated per month. Interrupted time series analyses were conducted to estimate the level or trend change in the outcome measures. RESULTS: We included 69,533 valproate users from 9,699,371 females of childbearing potential from the five participating centres. A significant decline in prevalent use of valproates was observed in Tuscany, Italy (mean difference post-intervention -7.7%), Spain (-11.3%), and UK (-5.9%) and a non-significant decline in the Netherlands (-3.3%), but no decline in incident use after the 2018 RMMs compared to the period before. The monthly proportion of compliant valproate prescriptions/dispensings with a contraceptive coverage was low (<25%), with an increase after the 2018 RMMs only in the Netherlands (mean difference post-intervention 12%). There was no significant increase in switching rates from valproates to alternative medicine after the 2018 intervention in any of the countries/regions. We observed a substantial number of concurrent pregnancies during valproate exposure, but with a declining rate after the 2018 RMMs in Tuscany, Italy (0.70 per 1000 valproate users pre- and 0.27 post-intervention), Spain (0.48 and 0.13), the Netherlands (0.34 and 0.00), and an increasing rate in UK (1.13 and 5.07). CONCLUSION: There was a small impact of the 2018 RMMs on valproate use in the studied European countries/regions. The substantial number of concurrent pregnancies with valproate exposure warrants a careful monitoring of implementation of the existing PPP for valproate in clinical practice in Europe, to see if there is any need for additional measures in the future.

Incidence of Lyme Borreliosis in the Dutch General Practice Population: A Large-Scale Population-Based Cohort Study Across the Netherlands Between 2015 and 2019.

Background: There is a need for updated incidence rates (IRs) of Lyme borreliosis (LB) in Europe, including the Netherlands. We estimated LB IRs stratified by geographic area, year, age, sex, immunocompromised status, and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: All subjects registered in the PHARMO General Practitioner (GP) Database without prior diagnosis of LB or disseminated LB and having ≥1 year of continuous database enrolment were included. IRs and corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) of GP-recorded LB, erythema migrans (EM), and disseminated LB were estimated during the period 2015‒2019. Results: We identified 14,794 events (suspected, probable, or confirmed) with a diagnostic code for LB that included 8219 with a recorded clinical manifestation: 7985 (97%) with EM and 234 (3%) with disseminated LB. National annual LB IRs were relatively consistent, ranging from 111 (95% CI 106‒115) in 2019 to 131 (95% CI 126‒136) in 2018 per 100,000 person-years. Incidence of LB showed a bimodal age distribution, with peak IRs observed among subjects aged 5‒14 and 60‒69 years in men and women. Higher LB incidence was found in subjects who were residents of the provinces of Drenthe and Overijssel, immunocompromised, or of lower SES. Similar patterns were observed for EM and disseminated LB. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that LB incidence remains substantial throughout the Netherlands with no indication of decline in the past 5 years. Foci in two provinces and among vulnerable populations suggest potential initial target groups for preventive strategies such as vaccination.

Real-world data of HER2-low metastatic breast cancer: A population based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of investigational human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeting treatments, thorough understanding of breast cancer with different HER2 expression levels is critical. The aim of this study was to compare clinicopathologic characteristics and survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer according to the level of HER2 expression. METHODS: Women with distant metastatic breast cancer during 2008-2016 were selected from PALGA, the Dutch Pathology Registry, and linked to the PHARMO Database Network. Breast cancer samples were categorised as HER2 immunohistochemistry score 0 (IHC0), HER2-low or HER2+. RESULTS: Among women with hormone receptor (HR) positive metastatic breast cancer (n = 989), 373 (38%) cancers were HER2 IHC0, 472 (48%) were HER2-low and 144 (15%) were HER2+. Among HR negative patients (n = 272), the proportion of HER2 IHC0, HER2-low and HER2+ was 110 (40%), 104 (38%) and 58 (21%) respectively. Within the HR + cohort, patients with HER2 IHC0 or HER2-low cancer were significantly older compared to HER2+ patients. This age difference was not seen in the HR-cohort. The localisation of distant metastases differed significantly between HER2 IHC0 or HER2-low versus HER2+ cases. Survival rates did not differ markedly by subtypes. CONCLUSION: Substantial proportion of patients had a HER2-low breast cancer. No clear differences in survival were found when comparing HER2 and HR status. Getting more granular insights in the level of HER2 expression and addressing HER2-low as a separate category could help to assess the impact of emerging treatment strategies. Therefore, more detailed information on HER2 expression should be routinely reported.

Increased Risk of Stroke Due to Non-adherence and Non-persistence with Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs): Real-World Analyses Using a Nested Case-Control Study from The Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

BACKGROUND: A high degree of adherence to direct oral anticoagulants is essential for reducing the risk of ischaemic stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation, owing to the rapid decline in anticoagulation activity when doses are omitted (i.e. rebound effect). OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the relationship between non-adherence and non-persistence with direct oral anticoagulants and the incidence of ischaemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. METHODS: A nested case-control study was conducted in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany among patients with atrial fibrillation starting direct oral anticoagulants between the drug approval date and the end of database availability. Patients with an ischaemic stroke during the follow-up were selected as cases and compared with matched controls (matched on age ± 5 years, sex, year of cohort entry date and CHA2DS2-VASc-score at cohort entry date). The cohort entry date was the first dispensing date. Study patients were those aged ≥ 45 years, with ≥ 1 year database history, ≥ 1 year follow-up and at least two direct oral anticoagulant dispensings after the cohort entry date. Adherence and persistence to direct oral anticoagulant treatment were defined as the proportion of days covered ≥ 80% or direct oral anticoagulant continuous use between the cohort entry date and the index date (i.e. date of ischaemic stroke), respectively. RESULTS: In The Netherlands, Italy and Germany, 105 cases and 395 controls, 1580 cases and 6248 controls, and 900 cases and 3570 controls were included, respectively. Odds ratios (ORs) for stroke among current users who were non-adherent compared to adherent users were 0.43 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-1.96) in The Netherlands, 1.11 (95% CI 0.98-1.26) in Italy and 1.21 (95% CI 1.01-1.45) in Germany. The risk of stroke was significantly higher among non-persistent users compared with persistent users in all three databases [OR 1.56 (95% CI 1.00-2.44), OR 1.48 (1.32-1.65) and OR 1.91 (95% CI 1.64-2.22), respectively]. In The Netherlands and Germany, the risk of stroke was higher the longer a patient had stopped using direct oral anticoagulants. CONCLUSIONS: Both non-adherence (in Germany) and non-persistence increased the risk of stroke, either using a once-daily or twice-daily regime.

Risk Factor Clusters and Cardiovascular Disease in High-Risk Patients: The UCC-SMART Study.

Background: Clustering of vascular risk factors, i.e., the co-existence of two or more risk factors, has been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population. This study aims to firstly, examine patterns of clustering of major cardiovascular risk factors in high-risk patients and their relation with the risk of recurrent cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Secondly, to assess which combinations are associated with the highest risk of CVD and all-cause mortality and to study population attributable fractions. Methods: A total of 12,616 patients from the Utrecht Cardiovascular Cohort - Second Manifestations of ARTerial diseases (UCC-SMART) study consisting of patients with or a high risk to develop cardiovascular disease were studied. We constructed sixteen clusters based on four individual modifiable risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, current smoking, overweight). Patients were followed from September 1997 to March 2017. Cox proportional hazard models were used to compute adjusted hazard ratios for CVD risk and all-cause mortality and 95% confidence intervals for clusters, with patients without any risk factor as reference group. The population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated. Subgroup analyses were conducted by age and sex. Results: During a mean follow-up period of 8.0 years, 1836 CVD events were registered. The prevalence of patients with zero, one, two, three, and four risk factors was 1.4, 11.4, 32.0, 44.8 and 10.4%. The corresponding hazard ratios (HR) for CVD risk and all-cause mortality were 1.65 (95% CI 0.77; 3.54) for one risk factor, 2.61 (1.24; 5.50) for two, 3.25 (1.55; 6.84) for three, and 3.74 (1.77; 7.93) for four risk factors, with patients without any risk factor as reference group. The PAFs were 6.9, 34.0, 50.1 and 22.2%, respectively. The smoking-hypertension-dyslipidemia combination was associated with the highest HR: 4.06 (1.91; 8.63) and the hypertension-dyslipidemia combination with the highest PAF: 37.1%. Conclusion: Clusters including smoking and hypertension contributed to the highest risk of CVD and all-cause mortality. This study confirms that risk factor clustering is common among patients at high-risk for CVD and is associated with an increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality.