[Good practices of publication of clinical cases of pharmacovigilance: comments, Groupe de Travail sur les Bonnes Pratiques de Publication de Cliniques en Pharmacovigilance: commentary]. / Les bonnes pratiques de publication de cas cliniques de pharmacovigilance: commentaires. Groupe de Travail sur les Bonnes Pratiques de Publication de Cliniques en Pharmacovigilance: commentaires.

This paper introduces some comments on the complete text of Good Pharmacovigilance Publishing Practices, which forms appendix number 2 of the Good Pharmacovigilance Practices now published by the French Drug Agency, as was Good Clinical Practices. Each good practice is printed in italic and presented in a frame; the following comments are designed to facilitate its application. The technical terms that are used in this text are presented according to the glossary in Good Pharmacovigilance Practices.

[Hypersensitivity to glucocorticoids: reflections on a published case report sample]. / Hypersensibilités aux glucocorticoïdes: réflexions à partir d'un échantillon de cas rapportés dans la littérature.

Hypersensitivity reactions associated with glucocorticoid treatment are rare but well known; the purpose of this study was to identify the responsible constituent (the excipient or the glucocorticoid). 32 cases published from 1970 have been analysed. In 75 per cent of cases, the patients received the glucocorticoid (hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone principally) by the intravenous route. Clinical manifestations reported were respiratory or cutaneous, with a short interval to onset. Skin tests were performed in 20 patients, but cutaneous challenge identified an agent responsible for hypersensitivity in only three cases. The heterogeneity of the test results in these 32 cases makes it difficult to identify a unifying explanation for the reactions, or propose a therapeutic schedule.