background: in vitro fertilization (ivf) and intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (icsi) are recognized as established and increasingly successful forms of treatment for infertility, yet significant numbers of couples discontinue treatment without achieving a live birth. this study aims to identify major factors that influence the decision to discontinue ivf/icsi treatments. materials and methods:...

The psychopharmacology of major psychiatric disorders involves the principle of optimal treatment, which includes appropriate drug selection, correct dosing, recognition and management of side effects, and appropriate duration of treatment. There is a substantial literature to support evidence-based decisions for all of these components of treatment in most major psychiatric syndromes. Less att...

OBJECTIVE Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) constitute a class of innovative products that encompasses gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, and tissue-engineered products (TEP). There is an increased investment of commercial and non-commercial sponsors in this field and a growing number of ATMPs randomized clinical trials (RCT) and patients enrolled in such trials. RCT generate data to...

HOLLY MCCLAIN BURKE: CONTRACEPTIVE CONTINUATION IN KENYA (Under the direction of Carolyn Tucker Halpern) Contraceptive discontinuation is high in Kenya—a quarter of family planning (FP) users discontinue within 12 months, despite having FP needs. The purpose of this dissertation was to provide the foundation for interpretation of the findings of a four-year, quasi-experimental intervention stud...

BACKGROUND Efavirenz (EFV) based antiretroviral therapy is expanding worldwide. However discontinuation of EFV containing regimens is common in some patients, particularly black patients, due most often to neuropsychiatric side effects. These adverse drug effects often result in premature drug discontinuation, as well as considerable morbidity. METHODS We genotyped CYP2A6, CYP2B6 and CYP3A4, ...

This report investigated safety and dosing recommendations of intravenous caspofungin in hepatic insufficiency. In the single-dose study, 8 patients each with mild and moderate hepatic insufficiency received 70 mg of caspofungin. In the multiple-dose study, 8 patients with mild hepatic insufficiency and 13 healthy matched controls received 70 mg on day 1 and 50 mg daily on days 2 through 14. Ei...

INTRODUCTION Patients who are lost to follow-up (LTFU) while on antiretroviral therapy (ART) pose challenges to the long-term success of ART programs. We describe the extent to which patients considered LTFU are misclassified as true disengagement from care when they are still alive on ART and explain reasons for ART discontinuation using our active tracing program to further improve ART retent...

PURPOSE Single-arm phase II trials may not be appropriate for testing cytostatic agents. We evaluate two kinds of randomized designs for the early development of target-based cytostatic agents. METHODS We compared power of the randomized discontinuation and upfront randomization designs under two models for the treatment effect of targeted cytostatic agents. RESULTS The randomized discontin...

BACKGROUND Despite the significant benefits of secondary prevention (SP) medication after acute myocardial infarction (MI), evidence suggests that these medications are neither consistently prescribed nor appropriately adhered to by patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of general practitioners (GPs) and patients regarding discontinuation of SP medication after MI and reas...

PURPOSE Although epilepsy surgery, especially temporal lobe epilepsy surgery, is well established to control seizures in patients remaining on antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment, less information is available about how many seizure-free surgical patients will relapse after discontinuation of AEDs under medical supervision. METHODS A literature review yielded six retrospective clinical observa...