The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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Review Comparative Study
Clevidipine: an ultra short-acting calcium channel antagonist for acute hypertension.
To review the safety, efficacy, and pharmacologic characteristics of clevidipine, a new ultra short-acting intravenous antihypertensive agent for the treatment of moderate-to-severe hypertension. ⋯ Clevidipine is the first intravenous antihypertensive approved by the Food and Drug Administration in nearly a decade. Based on available published clinical trials, clevidipine appears to be safe and effective in the acute management of moderate-to-severe elevations in blood pressure and a viable alternative to other agents such as nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, and nicardipine.
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To describe the rationale, principles, and dosage calculations for continuous-infusion beta-lactam antibiotics to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria in patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). ⋯ Continuous infusion of beta-lactam antibiotics may be a useful treatment strategy for multidrug-resistant gram-negative infections in the intensive care unit. Well-established pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles can be used to safely reach and maintain steady-state target concentrations of beta-lactam antibiotics in critical illness complicated by acute renal failure requiring CVVH.
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To review the pharmacologic properties of a novel class of chemotherapeutic agents, the epothilones, and to summarize findings from recent clinical trials investigating the various epothilones in cancer therapy. ⋯ The epothilones have demonstrated significant potential for addressing the growing therapeutic challenge of taxane resistance, and the ever-increasing pool of information regarding structure-activity relationships of these MSAs will help to optimize microtubule-targeted chemotherapy.