Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Atovaquone Compared With Dapsone For The Prevention Of Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia In Patients With Hiv Infection Who Cannot Tolerate Trimethoprim, Sulfonamides, Or Both, Wafaa M. El-Sadr , M.D., M.P.H., Robert L. Murphy , M.D., Teresa Mccabe Yurik , M.S., Roberta Luskin-Hawk , M.D., Tony W. Cheung , M.D., Henry H. Balfour , Jr., M.D., Robert Eng , M.D., Thomas M. Hooton , M.D., Thomas M. Kerkering , M.D., Malte Schutz , M.D., Charles Van Der Horst , M.D., Richard Hafner , M.D.

Internal Medicine Publications

BACKGROUND

Although trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole is the drug of choice for the prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, many patients cannot tolerate it and must switch to an alternative agent.

METHODS

We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized trial comparing daily atovaquone (1500-mg suspension) with daily dapsone (100 mg) for the prevention of P. carinii pneumonia among patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus who could not tolerate trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. The median follow-up period was 27 months.

RESULTS

Of 1057 patients enrolled, 298 had a history of P. carinii pneumonia.P. cariniipneumonia developed in 122 of 536 patients assigned to atovaquone (15.7 cases per …

Interferon Alfa-2b Alone Or In Combination With Ribavirin As Initial Treatment For Chronic Hepatitis C, John G. Mchutchison , M.D., Stuart C. Gordon , M.D., Eugene R. Schiff , M.D., Mitchell L. Shiffman , M.D., William M. Lee , M.D., Vinod K. Rustgi , M.D., Zachary D. Goodman , M.D., Ph.D., Mei-Hsui Ling , Ph.D., Susannah Cort , M.D., Janice K. Albrecht , Ph.D.

Internal Medicine Publications

BACKGROUND

Only 15 to 20 percent of patients with chronic hepatitis C have a sustained virologic response to interferon therapy. We compared the efficacy and safety of recombinant interferon alfa-2b alone with those of a combination of interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin for the initial treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS

We randomly assigned 912 patients with chronic hepatitis C to receive standard-dose interferon alfa-2b alone or in combination with ribavirin (1000 or 1200 mg orally per day, depending on body weight) for 24 or 48 weeks. Efficacy was assessed by measurements of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA …

Quality Of Life And Clinical Outcomes In Elderly Patients Treated With Ventricular Pacing As Compared With Dual-Chamber Pacing, Gervasio A. Lamas , M.D., E. John Orav , Ph.D., Bruce S. Stambler , M.D., Kenneth A. Ellenbogen , M.D., Elena B. Sgarbossa , M.D., Shoei K. Stephen Huang , M.D., Roger A. Marinchak , M.D., N.A. Mark Estes , M.D., Gary F. Mitchell , M.D., Eric H. Lieberman , M.D., Carol M. Mangione , M.D., Lee Goldman , M.D., John J. Griffin, James D. Maloney, Carlos Rizo-Patrón, Ferdinand J. Venditti, Bruce L. Wilkoff

Internal Medicine Publications

ABSTRACT

Background Standard clinical practice permits the use of either single-chamber ventricular pacemakers or dual-chamber pacemakers for most patients who require cardiac pacing. Ventricular pacemakers are less expensive, but dual-chamber pacemakers are believed to be more physiologic. However, it is not known whether either type of pacemaker results in superior clinical outcomes.

Methods The Pacemaker Selection in the Elderly study was a 30-month, single-blind, randomized, controlled comparison of ventricular pacing and dualchamber pacing in 407 patients 65 years of age or older in 29 centers. Patients received a dual-chamber pacemaker that had been randomly programmed to either ventricular pacing or …

Interferon Alfa-2b Alone Or In Combination With Ribavirin For The Treatment Of Relapse Of Chronic Hepatitis C, Gary L. Davis , M.D., Rafael Esteban-Mur , M.D., Vinod Rustgi , M.D., John Hoefs , M.D., Stuart C. Gordon , M.D., Christian Trepo , M.D., Mitchell L. Shiffman , M.D., Stefan Zeuzem , M.D., Antonio Craxi , M.D., Mei-Hsui Ling , Ph.D., Janice Albrecht , Ph.D.

Internal Medicine Publications

BACKGROUND

Interferon alfa is the only effective treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C. Forty percent of patients have an initial response to this therapy, but most subsequently relapse. We compared the effect of interferon alone with that of interferon plus oral ribavirin for relapses of chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS

We studied 345 patients with chronic hepatitis C who relapsed after interferon treatment. A total of 173 patients were randomly assigned to receive standard-dose recombinant interferon alfa-2b concurrently with ribavirin (1000 to 1200 mg orally per day, depending on body weight) for six months, and 172 patients were assigned to …