We evaluated a structured pharmaceutical care program for elderly patients (> 65 yrs) with congestive heart failure (CHF) based on objective measures of disease control, quality of life, and use of health care facilities in a randomized, controlled, longitudinal, prospective clinical trial. The 42 patients in group A received education from a pharmacist on the disease and its treatment, and lifestyle changes that could help control symptoms. Patients also were encouraged to monitor their symptoms and comply with prescribed drug therapy. If necessary, dosage regimens were simplified in liaison with hospital physicians. The 41 control patients (group B) received standard care. The following outcome measures were assessed in all patients at baseline (before the start of the trial) and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months: 2-minute walk test, blood pressure, body weight, pulse, forced vital capacity, quality of life [disease-specific (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire) and generic (SF-36)], knowledge of symptoms and drugs, compliance with therapy, and use of health care facilities (hospital admissions, visits to emergency room, emergency calls). Patients in group A showed improved compliance with drug therapy, which in turn improved their exercise capacity compared with those in group B; education on management of symptoms, lifestyle changes, and dietary recommendations were also of benefit. Group A patients significantly improved knowledge of their drug therapy over the 12-month study and had fewer hospital admissions compared with group B patients. They also had improved outcomes compared with group B, despite the small samples. An extension of this trial to other sites with pooling of results would provide additional evidence of the value of this structured program in elderly patients with CHF.

Sotalol, a beta-adrenoceptor blocking drug, was administered to 12 hypertensive pregnant women. The concentration of the drug was assayed in samples of maternal plasma, amniotic fluid and mixed umbilical cord plasma at delivery and, in five mothers who elected to breast feed, in paired samples of maternal plasma and breast milk. Sotalol reduced blood pressure effectively at a mean daily dose of 433.1 & 54 * 1 mg but crossed the placental barrier. The mean maternal: fetal plasma concentration ratio was 1 : 1.05 and the mean amniotic fluid concentration was 7 * 0 & 2 * 7 pg/ml. Delivery occurred at mean gestational age of 37 * 7 I 0 * 7 weeks ; 12 infants were liveborn with a mean weight of 2 . 8 k O . l kg and eight of them had no significant neonatal problems. Of the other four, two died from severe congenital anomalies, one had perinatal asphyxia and one mild transient hypoglycaemia. High sotalol concentrations were found in breast milk (mean plasma : milk ratio was 1 : 5 -4) raising the possibility of pharmacological effect in the newborn infant. The results suggest that sotalol adequately controls blood pressure in hypertension complicating pregnancy but because, unlike results from the pregnant ewe, it crosses the human placental barrier it offers no apparent advantages over other beta-adrenoceptor antagonists.

1 Plasma levels of propranolol were measured at intervals after the oral administration of 160 mg propranolol and 160 mg L.A. propranolol in ten subjects who received both drugs on separate occasions.2 Mean peak plasma concentration of propranolol occurred 2 h after propranolol and 10 h after the L.A. formulation; the peak concentration with the former was four times that with the latter. At 24 h the plasma level was significantly higher after L.A. propranolol. 3 Observations were made in nine healthy volunteers who exercised before and at intervals after the oral administration of 160 mg propranolol and 160 mg L.A. propranolol.4 Propranolol produced a maximum reduction (27.84 + 2.4%) in the exercise tachycardia at 3 h and L.A. propranolol a maximum reduction (22.00 + 1.73%) at 6 h. The effects at 24 h were 9.24 + 1.55 and 16.79 + 2.16% respectively.5 Five subjects were given 160 mg propranolol as a single dose daily for 8 days and on a separate occasion similar treatment with L.A. propranolol. Subjects were exercised and blood samples were taken before and 3 h after each dose on days 1 to 5 and on day 8. propranolol were 12.5 to 17.5 (trough values) and 18.4 to 50.0 (peak values) ng/ml. 8 These observations show that the new long acting formulation of propranolol produces a significant reduction of an exercise tachycardia throughout a 24 h period without a very high initial effect during single and multiple dosing. This formulation should be suitable for once a day administration.

SUMMARY Eight patients with chronic Q fever endocarditis were treated with tetracycline for up to 40 months. In addition, five of these patients received co-trimoxazole. Six patients had prosthetic valves. Two patients who had Q fever endocarditis on their native valves required valve replacement because of haemodynamic difficulties: in only one did the Q fever endocarditis contribute to the haemodynamic difficulty. One patient died.It is suggested that medical treatment is continued until clinically and haematologically there is no evidence of endocarditis and the Q fever phase 1 antibody titre is less than 200. No recurrence of Q fever endocarditis has been detected in three of our patients who have now stopped treatment.

In order to assess the feasibility and outcome of using prehospital thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction in a rural community, we performed an open randomized study of patients with symptoms of acute myocardial infarction of less than 6 hours. One hundred and forty-five patients with acute myocardial infarction were allocated to receive IV streptokinase prehospital by means of a mobile coronary care unit (MCCU) (n = 43) or to receive IV streptokinase in hospital (n = 102). The mean delay time to treatment was 138 minutes (MCCU group) and 172 minutes (hospital group) (p less than 0.02). Reperfusion time was 88 minutes for the MCCU group and 92 minutes for the hospital group. Mortality at 14 days was 2.3% for the MCCU group and 11.7% for the hospital group (p less than 0.05). Six month mortality was 4.9% for the MCCU group and 17.3% for the hospital group (p = 0.03). Mortality at 1 year was 6.1% for the MCCU group and 20.0% for the hospital group (p = 0.04). There were no significant adverse events in either treatment group. Thus, prehospital thrombolysis by streptokinase is feasible and allows significant reduction in the delay time to treatment initiation. There are encouraging improvements in both short- and long-term survival with no apparent reduction in safety profile.

Observations were made in 5 healthy subjects who exercised before and 1, 3, 6, 8 and 24 h after the oral administration on separate occasions of 160 mg oxprenolol, 160 mg slow release oxprenolol, 160 mg long acting propranolol and 400 mg sotalol. Blood samples were obtained before and at 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 and 24 h after drug administration and assayed for drug concentration. Although the plasma concentration of oxprenolol after S.R. oxprenolol was significantly less at 1 and 2 h and significantly greater at 24 h than after conventional oxprenolol, there was little difference between the effects of the two drugs on an exercise tachycardia. The plasma level of propranolol and the reduction in an exercise tachycardia after L.A. propranolol increased slowly to reach a peak at 6 h and then declined gradually to 24 h. The maximum plasma concentration and effect after sotalol occurred at 3 h and then declined with an elimination half-life of 12.1 h. At 24 h the percentage reduction in an exercise tachycardia was 8.3 +/- 2.5 after oxprenolol, 10.0 +/- 2.3 after S.R. oxprenolol, 18.0 +/- 3.2 after L.A. propranolol and 14.7 +/- 3.4% after sotalol.

Background Previous reports of transfusion practices in neonates have focused predominantly on premature neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Population data on neonatal transfusions is limited. Methods This study used linked population-based data from New South Wales (NSW) birth and hospital discharge data to determine rates of blood and blood product transfusion in the first 28 days of life. The study included all livebirths of at least 23 weeks gestation in NSW between 2001 and 2011, providing data on one-third of all Australian births. Results Of 989491 livebirths, 6436 received a blood product transfusion (6.5 per 1000 births). 56% were born < = 32 weeks gestation (n = 3594, 272/1000 births) and 44% were >32 weeks gestation (n = 2842, 2.9/1000 births). 8% received transfusions in a hospital without a neonatal or paediatric ICU. The rate of transfusions of blood and blood products in neonates increased between 2001 and 2011 (5.7/1000 to 7.0/1000, p < 0.001). High transfusion rates were seen in neonates with a prior inutero transfusion (667/1000), congenital anomaly requiring surgery (437/1000) or haemolytic disorder (132/1000). 48% received red cells alone, 29% received red cells plus other blood products and 24% received other blood products without red cells. Conclusions High rates of transfusions are seen in preterm neonates and in those undergoing surgery or with haemolytic disorders. Rates of neonatal transfusion increased in NSW between 2001 and 2011, primarily due to reported increased use of plasma and gamma globulin.

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