natriuretic-peptide--brain and Diarrhea

This twelfth best practice review examines four series of common primary care questions in laboratory medicine: (i) antiepileptic drug monitoring; (ii) infectious diarrhoea; (iii) methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus; and (iv) brain natriuretic peptide. The review is presented in question-answer format, referenced for each question series. The recommendations represent a précis of guidance found using a standardised literature search of national and international guidance notes, consensus statements, health policy documents and evidence-based medicine reviews, supplemented by MEDLINE EMBASE searches to identify relevant primary research documents. They are not standards but form a guide to be set in the clinical context. Most are consensus rather than evidence-based. They will be updated periodically to take account of new information.

Topics: Anticonvulsants; Diarrhea; Drug Monitoring; Humans; Mass Screening; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Primary Health Care; Specimen Handling; Staphylococcal Infections

rhuMAb 2C4 (pertuzumab, RO4368451), a human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) targeted antibody that binds to an epitope distinct from trastuzumab, blocks ligand-associated heterodimerization of HER2 with other HER receptor family members. This study evaluated the toxicity, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor activities of pertuzumab in Japanese patients with solid tumors.. Patients with solid tumors refractory to standard therapy were administered pertuzumab 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 mg/kg intravenously once every 3 weeks. Grade 3 toxicities were considered as dose limiting. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was a dose at which two out of six patients had Grade 3 toxicities.. Eighteen patients, aged 38-66 (median 57) years, with solid tumors were enrolled and a total of 32 cycles of pertuzumab were administered. Toxicities were generally acceptable. Grade 3 elevation of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was observed in one patient at 25 mg/kg and was considered to be dose limiting. MTD was not reached up to a dose level of 25 mg/kg. The serum concentration of pertuzumab declined slowly (terminal half-life is approximately 3 weeks). The AUC proportionally increased over the dose range tested. There was limited evidence of activity (stable disease 2; progressive disease 13; and not evaluable 3); however, tumor shrinkage and tumor marker decrease were observed in an ovarian cancer and a non-small-cell lung cancer patient, respectively.. Pertuzumab is well tolerated up to 25 mg/kg. Although objective tumor response was not observed, it is worth evaluating as a flat dose and in combination with other cytotoxics and molecular-targeted agents.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antineoplastic Agents; Area Under Curve; Breast Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Diarrhea; Digestive System Neoplasms; Drug Eruptions; Female; Humans; Hypersensitivity; Lung Neoplasms; Lymphopenia; Male; Middle Aged; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Unknown Primary; Ovarian Neoplasms; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; Receptor, ErbB-2

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Acute Kidney Injury; Adolescent; Adult; Asthenia; Chest Pain; Conjunctivitis; Coronary Angiography; Coronary Care Units; COVID-19; Diarrhea; Dyspnea; Electrocardiography; Exanthema; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; Female; Fever; France; Headache; Humans; Hypotension; Intensive Care Units; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome; Myocarditis; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Peptide Fragments; Respiration, Artificial; SARS-CoV-2; Stroke Volume; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome; Tachycardia; Troponin; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left; Young Adult

A four- and a half-month-old girl with severe dilated cardiomyopathy due to neonatal enterovirus myocarditis, treated with diuretics and milrinone for the past 4 months, was infected with SARS-CoV-2. The disease course was characterised by high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. Cardiac function, as measured by echocardiography, remained stable. The treatment focused on maintaining a normal heart rate and a stable fluid balance. In children with severe underlying cardiac disease, even a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection can require close monitoring and compound treatment.

Topics: Cardiomyopathy, Dilated; Cardiotonic Agents; COVID-19; Diarrhea; Diuretics; Echocardiography; Enterovirus Infections; Female; Fever; Heart Rate; Heart Transplantation; Humans; Infant; Milrinone; Myocarditis; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Peptide Fragments; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index; Tachycardia; Tachypnea; Troponin T; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left; Vomiting; Waiting Lists; Water-Electrolyte Balance

Topics: Autoimmune Diseases; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Dermatitis; Diarrhea; Echocardiography; Female; Glucocorticoids; Humans; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; Immunologic Factors; Ipilimumab; Lymph Nodes; Lymphatic Metastasis; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Melanoma; Middle Aged; Myocarditis; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Nivolumab; Skin Neoplasms; Telemetry; Thyroiditis; Troponin I

Since its introduction 6 years ago, imatinib mesylate, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been a phenomenon in treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) with remarkably superior cytogenetic and molecular response rates at all stages of CML followed by longer progression free survival. Despite its extraordinarily high efficacy, adverse effects of imatinib mesylate such as edema, liver toxicity and fluid retention syndromes have been reported. Here we, for the first time, report development of heart failure in patients on imatinib mesylate medication and the possibility of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a potential diagnostic (or predicting) marker for heart failure. Since plasma BNP levels in the two patients were exceptionally high, we then explored the possibility of genetic association of BNP with the development of heart failure to find no positive association.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Alleles; Base Sequence; Benzamides; Biomarkers, Tumor; Diarrhea; DNA Mutational Analysis; Edema; Exanthema; Female; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors; Gene Frequency; Genotype; Heart Failure; Humans; Imatinib Mesylate; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive; Male; Middle Aged; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Piperazines; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Pyrimidines; Treatment Outcome