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Biomedical subjects

John R Foringer

Publications and source records attributed to John R Foringer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Acute amphotericin B overdose.

OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical course of a woman with cryptococcal meningitis and no previous cardiac disease who developed a fatal cardiac arrhythmia after an acute overdose of amphotericin B and to review its toxicity. CASE SUMMARY: A 41-year-old woman with a history of proliferative glomerulonephritis from systemic lupus erythematosus was admitted with a diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis. Liposomal amphotericin B was prescribed at the standard dose of 5 mg/kg/day; however, amphotericin B deoxycholate 5 mg/kg was inadvertently administered (usual dose of the deoxycholate formulation is 0.5-0.8 mg/kg/day). The patient developed cardiac arrhythmias, acute renal failure, and anemia. The medication error was noticed after she had received 2 doses of amphotericin B deoxycholate, and it was then discontinued. Despite treatment in the intensive care unit, the woman died on the sixth day after admission. DISCUSSION: Amphotericin B deoxycholate has been reported to produce significant cardiac toxicity, with ventricular arrhythmias and bradycardia reported in overdoses in children and in adults with preexisting cardiac disease, even when administered in conventional dosages and infusion rates. Use of the Naranjo probability scale indicated a highly probable relationship between the observed cardiac toxicity and amphotericin B deoxycholate therapy in this patient. CONCLUSIONS: Given the fulminant course of amphotericin B deoxycholate overdosage and lack of effective therapy, stringent safeguards against its improper administration should be in place.

Acute Disease↗

Acute renal failure secondary to imatinib mesylate treatment in prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of acute renal failure associated with the administration of imatinib mesylate. CASE SUMMARY: A 64-year-old man diagnosed with prostate cancer was enrolled in a Phase I trial of imatinib mesylate plus taxotere on a protocol that required a run-in period of imatinib mesylate alone. During therapy with imatinib mesylate, the patient developed acute renal failure, requiring hemodialysis. A renal biopsy revealed tubular vacuolization. Renal failure resolved with cessation of imatinib mesylate. DISCUSSION: Imatinib mesylate is a protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, the receptor tyrosine kinases for platelet-derived growth factor, and stem cell factor c-kit. Prostate cancer has been identified as a target for therapy with imatinib mesylate. This patient had no other confounding factors for the cause of the renal failure. An objective causality assessment determined that imatinib mesylate was the probable cause of the acute renal failure. The presence of a primary glomerular disease was excluded by biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: Imatinib mesylate-induced acute renal failure has now been linked to toxic effects on renal tubular cells in 3 cases. Renal function should be closely monitored during imatinib mesylate therapy.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Safety of regional citrate anticoagulation for continuous sustained low efficiency dialysis (C-SLED) in critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Sustained low efficiency dialysis (SLED) is a hybrid therapy that uses a conventional hemodialysis machine to deliver lower solute clearance over prolonged periods of time, typically 8 to 12 hours per treatment, and utilizes the same sodium and bicarbonate concentrations as intermittent hemodialysis. The therapy has been shown to be an effective dialysis mode for the critically ill patient with acute renal failure and hemodynamic instability. At our institution, critically ill patients requiring renal replacement therapy receive SLED on a continuous, 24-hour schedule (C-SLED). The higher dialysis dose with C-SLED compared to continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) or traditional SLED would likely alter the prescription needed to provide regional citrate anticoagulation and the incidence of hypernatremia and metabolic alkalosis. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of utilizing regional citrate anticoagulation with continuous SLED in critically ill patients who frequently clot the hemofilter and have contraindications to systemic anticoagulation with heparin. We hypothesized that the higher dialysis dose with C-SLED would affect the prescription of citrate anticoagulation and the development of hypernatremia and metabolic alkalosis. DESIGN: We prospectively followed the first 20 patients who received regional citrate anticoagulation on C-SLED for acute renal failure in the intensive care unit. Important outcomes measured included serum sodium, bicarbonate, ionized calcium concentration, serum pH, and PCO2. The number of clotting episodes for each patient while on regional citrate anticoagulation was recorded. Setting. Surgical and medical intensive care units at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. RESULTS: In over 2200 hours of continuous dialysis with citrate anticoagulation none of the 20 patients had derangements in the serum sodium or acid base status requiring cessation of regional citrate anticoagulation. In 14 patients, no clotting occurred during 1500 hours of SLED with the citrate infusion. There were eight episodes of hemofilter clotting in six patients during 750 hours of C-SLED. CONCLUSION: Regional citrate anticoagulation is a safe method of anticoagulation in critically ill patients on continuous SLED.

Acute Kidney Injury↗