ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assay theophylline blood levels in a sample of Sri Lankan chronic asthmatics taking oral theophylline, and to evaluate a simple and cost effective ultraviolet spectrophotometric assay for theophylline levels in blood. SETTING: Chronic asthmatics taking oral theophylline attending medical clinics at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) were recruited for the study. Blood samples were collected from recruited patients on their subsequent clinic visit. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of theophylline blood levels. Blood samples were assayed for trough theophylline levels using two methods: an automated homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (EMIT), and a low cost ultraviolet spectrophotometric method. RESULTS: Only 2 patients of the 24 had theophylline blood levels in the accepted therapeutic range (10 to 20 micrograms/ml) (3.4); 19 patients had levels under 5 micrograms/ml. A correlation coefficient of 0.99 was obtained in the statistical comparison of the two methods, indicating that the spectrophotometric method has similar accuracy as the reference EMIT assay. CONCLUSIONS: The results signal a need for monitoring of theophylline in asthmatics when accepted clinical indications are present. The ultraviolet spectrophotometric method is ideal to initiate therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the country because of its low cost (about Rs. 55 per assay), requiring only a UV recording spectrophotometer.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Asthma/blood , Bronchodilator Agents/blood , Cross-Sectional Studies , Drug Monitoring , Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet , Theophylline/bloodABSTRACT
We describe a patient with dengue fever with a haematoma of the rectus abdominis muscle, due to a tear in the inferior epigastric artery following episodes of retching. From the literature reviewed, we noted that there are no previous reports of dengue fever associated with muscle haematomas.
Subject(s)
Aged , Dengue/complications , Female , Hematoma/etiology , Humans , Muscular Diseases/etiology , Rectus AbdominisABSTRACT
We report a case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of Burkitt's type with thyrotoxicosis and thymic hyperplasia in a 27-year old man. As far as we are aware this is the first reported case of Burkitt's lymphoma, thymic hyperplasia and thyrotoxicosis occurring in the same patient.