Financial and materiel management.

Hospitals have to purchase new technology, update equipment, and replenish supplies continually to meet the needs of patients and the medical and nursing staff in a sound financial way. Thus, inventories must be maintained accurately and adequately with proper controls. Awareness of the cost of capital and operational supplies is essential to meeting budget allocations. With or without centralized buying, the MM department has the expertise to assist every department in purchasing to meet its needs and in setting and resetting inventory levels for its supplies. Explanations and formulas for handling capital equipment and regular supplies and some formats have been presented to facilitate the process. Because OR items are both expensive and numerous and OR storage space the most costly space in the hospital, physicians and nurse managers must understand the financial processes and inventory management and educate their staffs in these matters.

The warfarin-sulfinpyrazone interaction: stereochemical considerations.

To allow the simultaneous evaluation of the interaction between sulfinpyrazone and each enantiomer of racemic warfarin, pseudoracemic warfarin (1:1 12C-R(+) and 13C-S(-)warfarin) was given to six normal subjects both before and during oral sulfinpyrazone dosing. Serial blood and urine samples were analyzed for unchanged warfarin and its metabolic products by GC/MS. A mass balance of an oral dose of pseudoracemic warfarin, containing a tracer quantity of 14C-warfarin, was carried out in one of the subjects by monitoring 14C levels in urine and feces for 15 days. Concomitant sulfinpyrazone dosing markedly increased hypoprothrombinemia, decreased clearance of (S)-warfarin, and increased clearance of (R)-warfarin. Sulfinpyrazone also decreased the urinary excretion of warfarin-related products but increased their fecal excretion by an equivalent amount. Virtually all of the administered warfarin dose could be accounted for either as unchanged drug or known metabolites. Pharmacokinetic analysis of the data suggests the following: At least four distinct enzymes (two oxidases and two reductases) are involved in the metabolism of warfarin. Sulfinpyrazone increases the hypoprothrombinemia caused by warfarin primarily by inhibition of the cytochrome P-450-mediated oxidation of (S)-warfarin, the biologically more potent enantiomer. The increased clearance of (R)-warfarin results not from induction, but from its selective displacement from plasma protein binding sites.

Myoglobinemia and endurance exercise: a study of twenty-five participants in a triathlon competition.

Twenty-five athletes competing in a triathlon, an endurance competition, were studied to determine the relationship of sustained muscle exertion with myoglobinemia and clinical rhabdomyolysis. Of 24 athletes who completed the event, each individual demonstrated a dramatic rise and fall in serum myoglobin over a 24 hour period, with an average peak level of 842 ng/ml. While all subjects exhibited symptoms of myalgia after exertion, none required hospitalization. A significant correlation was demonstrated with average serum myoglobin and finishing time (P less than 0.0125) and postexercise temperature (P less than 0.05). Appropriate training of individuals, whether athletes or military recruits, appears to be an important factor in reducing myoglobinemia. Exercise-induced myoglobinemia appears to be dependent on intensity of athletic performance, measured as a function of time, distance, and activity performed. The athletes who finished first had the highest levels of myoglobinemia.

Interaction of secobarbital with warfarin pseudoracemates.

To evaluate the interaction of secobarbital with racemic warfarin or R,S(+/-)-warfarin, S(-)-warfarin was synthesized with 13C-label in the 2-position of the coumarin nucleus and added to 12C-R(+)-warfarin to form a 12C-/13C-warfarin pseudoracemate. Six normal subjects received 1.5 mg/kg of this "cold-labeled" pseudoracemate. It was given with and without a daily oral dose of secobarbital, 100 mg, beginning 7 days before the warfarin and continuing throughout the hypoprothrombinemia. Plasma samples were obtained daily and analyzed for warfarin and for one-stage prothrombin activity. Unchanged warfarin in plasma was fractionated by forward-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography, and enantiomorphic ratios were determined by chemical ionization-mass spectrometry with pentadeuterio-warfarin as the internal standard. There was a reduction of the hypoprothrombinemia of the pseuoracemate during the secobarbital regimen over that on warfarin alone (p < 0.001). There was an increase in plasma clearance of R-warfarin (p < 0.05) and an increase in plasma clearance of S-warfarin (p < 0.003) during the secobarbital regimen over that on warfarin alone. It was concluded that secobarbital diminished the hypoprothrombinemia of pseudoracemic warfarin by increasing plasma clearance of the more hypoprothrombinemic S-warfarin and by increasing plasma clearance of the less hypoprothombinemic R-warfarin.

Stereoselective interaction of phenylbutazone with [12C/13C]warfarin pseudoracemates in man.

To evaluate the interaction of phenylbutazone with racemic warfarin or R,S-(+/-)-warfarin in man, S-(-)-warfarin or levowarfarin was synthesized with (13)C label in the 2-position of the coumarin nucleus and added to [(12)C]R(+)-warfarin or dextrowarfarin to form a [(12)C/(13)C]pseudoracemate of warfarin. In six normal human subjects, a single oral dose of this "cold labeled" pseudoracemate, 1.5 mg/kg body weight, was administered with and without a daily dosage of phenylbutazone, 300 mg orally, beginning 3 d before the warfarin dose and continuing throughout the hypoprothrombinemia. Plasma samples were obtained daily and analyzed for warfarin content and for one-stage prothrombin activity. Unchanged warfarin in the plasma was fractionated by normal-phase, high-pressure liquid chromatography, and the enantiomorphic ratios were determined by chemical-ionization mass spectrometry with pentadeuteriowarfarin as the internal standard. A highly significant augmentation of the hypoprothrombinemia of the pseudoracemate occurred during the phenylbutazone regimen (P < 0.001) compared with pseudoracemic warfarin administered alone. There was a highly significant increase in the plasma clearance of dextrowarfarin (P < 0.01) and a significant decrease in the plasma clearance of levowarfarin (P < 0.05) during the phenylbutazone regimen compared with administration of warfarin alone. It was concluded that phenylbutazone augmented the hypoprothrombinemia of pseudoracemic warfarin stereoselectively by inhibiting the metabolic disposition of the more hypoprothrombinemic levowarfarin, yet reduced the plasma levels of pseudoracemic warfarin by greatly augmenting the metabolic disposition of dextrowarfarin.

A stable isotope assay for pseudoracemic warfarin from human plasma samples.

A pseudoracemic technique utilizing a seable isotope in one enantiomer was employed for the simultaneous determination of (R) and (S)-warfarin from plasma of human subjects. The assay includes high performance liquid chromatographic clean-up prior to mass spectral analysis to eliminate ion interferences from either co-administered drugs or contamination of the source. The assay is reliable, accurate and precise to within 5% at the submicrogram level.

Racemic warfarin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole interaction in humans.

Eleven normal humans were studied to evaluate the reported interaction of racemic sodium warfarin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prospectively. Single oral doses of racemic warfarin, 1.5 mg/kg of body weight, were administered with and without 320 mg of trimethoprim and 1600 mg of sulfamethoxazole orally, beginning 7 d before the warfarin and continuing daily throughout the hypoprothrombinemia. Daily plasma samples were analyzed for one-stage prothrombin activity (Quick) and for warfarin content by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Transient cutaneous reactions developed in four of 11 subjects: a morbilliform rash in three (studies discontinued) and generalized pruritus in one. A highly significant augmentation of the warfarin effect on the mean one-stage prothrombin activity (P less than 0.03) occurred with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but no significant effect was found on the warfarin half-life (P greater than 0.5). It is concluded that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole interacts with racemic warfarin, possibly at a receptor-site locus.