Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D Pritchard

Publications and source records attributed to D Pritchard.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

A cost-utility analysis of second-line antibiotics in the treatment of acute otitis media in children.

Newer antibiotics have higher acquisition costs than the first-line antibiotics but may offer superior outcomes, including enhanced eradication of resistant organisms, safety, and compliance in the treatment of acute otitis media. A rational choice among differing therapies should systematically address all these factors. We conducted a cost-utility analysis to compare the commonly used second-line antibiotics--cefaclor (CEF), amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMX-CLA), and erythromycin-sulfisoxazole (ERY-SULF). A meta-analysis of comparative clinical trials was performed to derive point estimates with a 95% confidence interval for rates of success and adverse events. Costs for drugs, laboratory tests, and physician visits were obtained from the government formulary and fee schedules. The cost for management of adverse events was estimated from the findings of a survey of pediatricians. Utilities (preferences or ratings of health states) were derived from responses of physicians to a standardized scenario of acute otitis media with combinations of adverse events. These utilities were used to obtain quality-adjusted life-day (QALD) scores over a 30-day horizon as a measure of effectiveness. Overall cost and QALD were calculated using decision analytic modeling. CEF performed significantly better than the two other drug treatments with the lowest expected cost ($108.00) and highest outcome (28.15 QALD); AMX-CLA was second in cost and third in outcome ($119.00, 27.98 QALD); and ERY-SULF was third in cost and second in outcome ($120.00, 28.03 QALD). These rankings were robust to variations in event rates over the 95% confidence interval. In this analysis, CEF was the most cost-effective antibiotic strategy for second-line therapy when differential success rates, adverse-event profiles, and impact on quality-of-life were considered.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Intravenous disopyramide in acute myocardial infarction: a haemodynamic and pharmacokinetic study.

We studied the haemodynamic and pharmacokinetic effects of intravenous disopyramide phosphate in 12 patients (average age, 59 years) with proven transmural myocardial infarction, whose symptoms began less than 12 h prior to the study. The aim was to assess the effects of intravenous disopyramide (2 mg/kg given over 5 min) on cardiac index (CI), left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP), heart rate (HR), mean systemic arterial blood pressure (BP), and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) for 60 min after administration of the drug. Both total and free concentrations of disopyramide in the plasma were also measured. A significant elevation (p less than 0.01) of LVFP (estimated indirectly as pulmonary artery end-diastolic pressure) occurred and persisted through the 1-h evaluation period. There was a small but significant (p = 0.02) initial fall in CI and a rise in SVR (p = 0.05). No significant changes occurred in HR or BP. Serum concentrations of disopyramide reached recommended therapeutic concentrations. There was no significant correlation of the changes in cardiac variables from pretreatment values with total serum concentrations, but the free concentration of disopyramide in plasma correlated better with cardiac effect, and the relationships of the free concentration of disopyramide to the changes in LVFP and in SVR from pretreatment values were significant (p less than 0.05). In two patients studied in detail, there was evidence of dose-dependent protein binding of disopyramide.

Aged↗