Proper Antibiotic Use in a Home-Based Primary Care Population Treated for Urinary Tract Infections.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the trends associated with diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections (UTI) in a home-based primary care population of Veterans Health System patients from 2006 to 2015. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Veterans Healthcare System. PARTICIPANTS: Home-based primary care patients treated for UTI from 2006 to 2015. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Appropriate therapy was determined based on the McGeer criteria. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors leading to appropriate UTI treatment. RESULTS: Of 366 available patients, 68 (18.6%) were tested for a UTI. Appropriate therapy occurred in 26% of patients. Allergy to any antibiotic increased the odds of appropriate treatment (odds ratio [OR] = 5.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5-23.2). Flank pain and increased urinary frequency also increased the likelihood of being treated appropriately (OR = 25.9, 95% CI 2.9-584.0 and OR = 4.49, 95% CI 0.99-21.2, respectively). CONCLUSION: Antibiotics were overused for treating UTIs in the homebound population. Patients with flank pain, increased urinary frequency, and antibiotic allergy were more likely to receive appropriate treatment. Pharmacists, therefore, have a viable opportunity to increase appropriate antibiotic prescribing in the home-based primary care population.

Ivabradine for the Treatment of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) impacts millions of patients, but there is currently no gold standard treatment for this condition. Ivabradine is a novel heart rate (HR) lowering agent that acts on the sinoatrial node cells by selectively inhibiting the If-current. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the evidence for the efficacy and safety of ivabradine for the treatment of POTS. METHODS: MEDLINE (from 1956 to August 2017) and EMBASE (from 1957 to August 2017) were queried with the following search term: "postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome" OR "postural tachycardia syndrome" OR "chronic orthostatic intolerance" AND "ivabradine." Articles in English with clinical outcomes of human patient(s) treated with ivabradine for POTS were included. RESULTS: The initial search identified 73 articles. After screening, 13 articles were included. Two prospective open-label trials, three retrospective cohort studies, and eight case reports evaluated the safety and efficacy of ivabradine in a total of 132 patients with postural tachycardia. Overall, ivabradine lowered HR and provided symptomatic relief of POTS without blood pressure lowering. Dizziness, nausea, headache, and fatigue were the most common side effects and often did not lead to discontinuation of treatment. CONCLUSION: Based on this small sample, ivabradine appears to be a reasonable option for patients with POTS who have failed or are unable to tolerate other treatment options, however, but a randomized controlled trial in this population is needed.

Review of Safety and Efficacy of Sleep Medicines in Older Adults.

PURPOSE: Insomnia is problematic for older adults. After behavioral modifications fail to show adequate response, pharmacologic options are used. The pharmacokinetics of agents used to treat insomnia may be altered. This review focuses on the safety and efficacy of medications used to treat insomnia. METHODS: A literature search of Medline, PubMed, and Embase was conducted (January 1966-June 2016). It included systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and case series that had an emphasis on insomnia in an older population. Search terms included medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for insomnia: benzodiazepines (triazolam, estazolam, temazepam, flurazepam, and quazepam), nonbenzodiazepine receptor agonists (non-BzRAs; zaleplon, zolpidem, and eszopiclone), suvorexant, ramelteon, doxepin and trazodone. Off-label drugs such as other antidepressants, antihistamines, antipsychotics, gabapentin, pramipexole, tiagabine, valerian, and melatonin were also included. FINDINGS: Cognitive behavioral therapy and sleep hygiene are considered initial therapy for insomnia. Benzodiazepines are discouraged in the geriatric population, especially for long-term use. Although non-BzRAs have improved safety profiles compared with benzodiazepines, their side effects include dementia, serious injury, and fractures, which should limit their use. Ramelteon has a minimal adverse effect profile and is effective for sleep-onset latency and increased total sleep time, making it a valuable first-line option. Although the data on suvorexant are limited, this drug improves sleep maintenance and has mild adverse effects, including somnolence; residual daytime sedation has been reported, however. Sedating low-dose antidepressants should only be used for insomnia when the patient has comorbid depression. Antipsychotic agents, pramipexole, and tiagabine have all been used for insomnia, but none has been extensively studied in an older population, and all have considerable adverse effects. Gabapentin may be useful in patients with restless leg syndrome or chronic neuropathic pain and insomnia. Diphenhydramine should be avoided in the elderly. Valerian and melatonin are unregulated products that have a small impact on sleep latency and can produce residual sedation. IMPLICATIONS: An ideal treatment for insomnia should help to improve sleep latency and sleep duration with limited awakenings and be without significant adverse effects such as daytime somnolence or decreased alertness. Cognitive behavioral therapy should always be first line treatment. Clinical inertia regarding previous prominent use of benzodiazepines and non-BzRAs will be a significant challenge for patients accustomed to their issuance. The future direction of insomnia treatment should have an emphasis on nonpharmacologic interventions, treating comorbid conditions, and focusing therapy on using benzodiazepines and non-BzRAs as last resorts.

Evidence of a clinically significant interaction between warfarin and intravesical gemcitabine.

PURPOSE: A case of supratherapeutic International Normalized Ratio (INR) values and hematomas subsequent to concomitant administration of warfarin and intravesical gemcitabine is reported. SUMMARY: A 90-year-old man with bladder cancer refractory to bacillius Calmette-Guérin was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and started on warfarin one month before starting treatment with intravesical gemcitabine 2 g (one dose per week for six weeks). Before intravesical gemcitabine was started, the patient reached consecutive therapeutic INR values. During the first five cycles of intravesical gemcitabine, the patient began to experience critically elevated INRs, which resulted in hospitalization and led to the discovery of hematomas. At hospital discharge, the decision was made to discontinue warfarin permanently given the patient's history of critically elevated INRs. Instead, enoxaparin was initiated due to the patient's history of DVT and active malignancy. Enoxaparin was started at a therapeutic, renally adjusted dosage of 60 mg subcutaneously once daily after the patient's hematomas resolved and hemoglobin level stabilized. The patient was cleared for discharge to his home after 17 days of hospitalization. He was scheduled to follow up with both urology and hematology departments regarding any further treatment for bladder cancer. A week after discharge, the patient's family decided that he would not receive the last (sixth) cycle of intravesical gemcitabine. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an interaction between intravesical gemcitabine and warfarin. CONCLUSION: A 90-year-old man on a stable dose of warfarin experienced an increase in INR values after receiving intravesical gemcitabine for the treatment of bladder cancer.