Genotype-Guided Hydralazine Therapy

Combined Rauwolfia-hydralazine therapy of hypertensive patients.

Genotype-guided dosing of warfarin.

Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have been used to treat thromboembolic disease for over 60 years, and they continue to be the most commonly prescribed anticoagulants worldwide. However, VKAs such as warfarin have a narrow therapeutic index, and the mean daily dose of warfarin varies widely from patient to patient. Underdosing can leave patients undertreated for their thromboembolic diseases; overd...

Oral hydralazine therapy for chronic refractory heart failure.

The hemodynamic effects of oral hydralazine were investigated in ten patients (nine in NYHA Class IV and one in Class III) with chronic refractory heart failure. With hemodynamic monitoring, adequate oral doses of hydralazine (50 or 75 mg) were determined and then administered every six hours. Hemodynamics were determined at 2-3, 6-8 and 24 hours on hydralazine therapy. Arterial pressure decrea...

Genotype-guided dosing of vitamin K antagonists.

To the Editor: Three articles in the December 12 issue1-3 address pharmacogenetics and dosing of coumarin anticoagulants. Because it is more usual for elderly patients to have an international normalized ratio (INR) outside the targeted therapeutic range and to have frank bleeding, it would be of clinical interest to know whether the authors stratified patients by age and whether coexisting con...

Response-guided therapy for patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 6 infection: a pilot study.

The optimal duration of treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 6 is unknown. This study was aimed at determining treatment response on the basis of rapid virological response (RVR) of HCV genotype 6 in comparison with genotypes 1 and 3. Sixty-six treatment naïve patients were treated with PEG-IFN-α2a (180 μg/week) plu...