Antiretroviral monitoring needed
Yearly surveys of people on antiretroviral therapy
could help to identify changes in prevalence of specific toxic side effects,
say Swiss researchers.
Adverse drug reactions are recorded anecdotally
and in trials but there is little information about their prevalence and
severity in routine clinical practice, say Dr Jacques Fellay, division
of infectious diseases, University of Lausanne, and colleagues. Therefore,
they conducted an observational study in 1,160 patients to describe clinical
and laboratory abnormalities potentially associated with antiretroviral
therapy. Clinical adverse events probably or definitely linked to antiretroviral
therapy occurred in 47 per cent of patients with a further 23 per cent
having events possibly linked to therapy. The figures for laboratory abnormalities
were 27 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively.
The researchers identified specific adverse events
for each antiretroviral drug. Some of the less expected results include
thrombocytopenia with saquinavir, mood disorders with lamivudine and unconjugated
hyperbilirubinaemia with ritonavir.
The researchers conclude that various antiretroviral
treatments have comparable efficacy so toxic effects are one of the important
factors that will drive choice of treatment (Lancet 2001;358:1322).
Back to Top
|
