Kaspar R; Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
Abstr Intersci Conf Antimicrob Agents Chemother Intersci Conf Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1998 Sep 24-27; 38: 382 (abstract no. I-64a).
David Powell Clinic, Austin, TX.
The development of rash during the induction phase of nevirapine therapy often limits the use of this potent, otherwise well-tolerated medication. Observing that patients on prednisone appeared to escape this complication, we offered patients initiating nevirapine as part of their antiretroviral treatment regimen 40-50mg daily of prednisone for the 14 day induction period. Patients with hypertension, diabetes, a previous adverse response to prednisone or a condition thought to be a contraindication to prednisone were not offered this therapy. Some patients declined to take it. Of 83 patients treated with prednisone only 1 developed a significant rash, and the rash was mild enough to allow continuation of nevirapine treatment. Of the 72 patients not receiving prednisone, 10 developed a rash severe enough to warrant discontinuation of nevirapine. There is, at present, no explanation for the reduced incidence of rash in patients treated with prednisone. This was not a controlled study. The patients who did not receive prednisone tend to be clustered in the earlier part of the historical interval. Thus the patient groups may not be fully comparable. Nonetheless, the striking reduction in nevirapine therapy may significantly reduce the principal toxicity of this medication.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Drug Therapy, Combination
- Exanthema
- Humans
- Incidence
- Nevirapine
- Placebos
- Prednisone
- Salvage Therapy
- drug therapy
- epidemiology
- therapy
Other ID:
UI: 102188190
From Meeting Abstracts