Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sudden death late after surgery for congenital heart disease is usually attributed to ventricular dysrhythmias, which may be difficult to suppress. In this study 19 consecutive patients with ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) documented by 24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring were treated with phenytoin orally. Sixteen patients had undergone previous repair of the tetralogy of Fallot; three had undergone aortic valve surgery. Nine of these children had been unresponsive to previous antiarrhythmic therapy. Before treatment, four patients had ventricular tachycardia, three had couplets, six had frequent multiform VPCs, four had infrequent multiform VPCs, and two had frequent uniform VPCs. During treatment with phenytoin, the arrhythmia was decreased in all 19 patients and was completely suppressed in 15; the four remaining patients had only uniform VPCs on repeat ambulatory ECG. The mean serum level was 16.8 micrograms/ml (range 12 to 25 micrograms/ml) with a mean dose of 3.4 mg/kg (range 2 to 4 mg/kg). In one patient a skin rash led to discontinuation of phenytoin; no other side effects occurred. In summary, phenytoin was used to successfully suppress ventricular dysrhythmias in 19 consecutive patients with VPCs late after surgery for congenital heart disease. Phenytoin would appear to be the drug of choice for this patient group.
 ...
PMID:Phenytoin therapy for ventricular arrhythmias occurring late after surgery for congenital heart disease. 712 92

Severe digitoxin poisoning in seven patients is reported. Doses taken varied from 2 to 20 mg, and maximal plasma concentrations of digitoxin from 50 to 237 nmol/L. One patient died from ventricular fibrillation, and the course in another was considerably protracted due to severe complications. The course in all patients was more dependent on underlying heart disease than on the plasma digitoxin concentration. Based on our own experiences and survey of the literature the following treatment is proposed: Gastric aspiration and lavage followed by instillation of activated charcoal should even be performed many hours after drug intake. In order to interrupt the enterohepatic circulation of digitoxin, repeated doses of charcoal should be given. Charcoal is preferable to cholestyramine because of its better tolerability. Ventricular arrhythmias should not be treated unless they are serious, because most antiarrhythmic drugs may further impede the AV-conduction. Phenytoin is the drug of choice, because the AV-conduction is less affected or even improved, and because the metabolism of digitoxin is accelerated. Conduction disturbances with bradycardia are frequently seen and may occur suddenly. Prophylactic introduction of a transvenous pacing catheter is therefore recommended as a routine procedure.
 ...
PMID:Acute, massive poisoning with digitoxin: report of seven cases and discussion of treatment. 727 75

According to a London physician, women with epilepsy taking antiepileptic drugs can take combined oral contraceptives (OCs). It is usual to recommend a combined OC preparation containing at least 50 mcg of estrogen (Ovran) from patients taking enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs; this can be increased to 60 mcg by taking 2 30 mcg pills, and if necessary to 80 mcg. To ensure that ovulation is inhibited, the blood progesterone concentration can be measured on day 21 of the 1st cycle. The higher doses of estrogen should be accompanied by higher doses of progestogen. The commonest fetal malformations are cleft lip and palate and congenital heart disease, usually septal defects. These abnormalities may be caused by all the major antiepileptic drugs. Phenytoin has been particularly implicated and may cause minor defects in up to 30% of infants and major defects in about 5%. The incidence of cleft palate and heart defects with phenytoin is 1.8% compared with 0.7% in the general population. With sodium valproate, neural tube defects occur in about 1.5% of pregnancies. Present evidence suggests that carbamazepine is the safest drug. Folic acid supplements reduce the risk of neural tube defects in women at risk, therefore women taking antiepileptic drugs who are contemplating pregnancy should be given a small folic acid supplement or a diet rich in folate. To reduce the risk of bleeding in the perinatal period, pregnant women taking enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs should be given oral phytomenadione (vitamin K1) 20 mg daily for at least 1 week before delivery. Vitamin K1 should be given to the newborn immediately after delivery. Only phenobarbitone and primidone might be contraindicated for breast feeding. Mothers with uncontrolled major epilepsy should not be left alone with small children. If there is already 1 sibling with epilepsy the risk of inheriting epileptic liability rises to about 10% and if both parent have epilepsy the risk is 15-20%.
 ...
PMID:Epilepsy and pregnancy. 824 68