BackgroundRomiplostim was approved in 2009 to treat adult splenectomised patients with chronic Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) when refractory to other treatment. It is also considered second-line treatment in non-splenectomised patients in which surgery is not advised.PurposeTo determine the effectiveness and safety of romiplostim in patients with ITP who did not respond to 1st line or later treatments.Material and methodsObservational and retrospective study. All patients treated with the drug from January 2009 to February 2014 were included. Data collected included demographic, clinical and analytical information, as well as dates of administration of the drug and dose administered.Results7 patients diagnosed with ITP and not responding to previous treatment lines were included, three splenectomised and four non-splenectomised. Previous lines of therapy varied among patients and included: nonspecific immunoglobulins, corticosteroids, danazol, rituximab and eltrombopag. Platelet count (PC) at the start of treatment was less than 50 × 109/l in 6 patients and higher in 1 patient. Three patients received fewer than six doses, so it was not possible to assess platelet response. The remaining four patients started treatment at a dose of 1 mcg/kg, maximum doses received ranged from 5 to 10 mcg/kg. In the four patients who received more than six doses of the drug response was variable. The percentage of time with sustained PC in one patient was only 19% of the treatment time (99 weeks follow-up) while in the other three it was 73%, 85% and 97%. One patient had PC of 150 × 109/l for four weeks with no dose reduction.ConclusionRomiplostim was prescribed according to approved use in all cases except for treatment discontinuation in the case of no response. No serious adverse effects were reported. Effectiveness was very variable. A protocol for use including conditions for discontinuation in case of no response could improve use of the drug in our institution.References and/or acknowledgementsNo conflict of interest.
BackgroundTwitter® (www.twitter.com) has become a useful digital tool for professional networking, update of knowledge and communication in the Spanish hospital pharmacy community.It is estimated that the number of Spanish Hospital pharmacists (SHP) is approximately 3,500, but the rate of SHP using Twitter is not well known.PurposeTo estimate what percentage of SHP have an active Twitter account.Material and methodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from 26 September 2017 to 14 October 2017.A new Twitter profile was created in privacy mode on the Google Chrome browser.SHP profiles were identified through the ‘snowball’ method following a four-steps procedure:Searching by keywords and hashtag on Twitter: ‘#FarmaciaHospitalaria’ + ‘Farmacia Hospitalaria’ + ‘Farmacéutica de Hospital’ + ‘Farmacéutico de Hospital’ + ‘Farmacia de Hospital’ + ‘Farmacéutica especialista’ + ‘Farmacéutico especialista’+ ‘Farmacia Hospital’ + ‘Hospital Pharmacist’ + ‘Hospital Pharmacy’ + ‘FIR’ and ‘#FIR’.Finding twitter lists related to ‘Farmacia Hospitalaria’ after searching on Google ‘inurl:lists inurl:Farmacia Hospitalaria site:twitter. com’.Followers and lists of Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacist (@sefh_).Using ‘Who to follow’ functionality on Twitter.Inclusion criteria were:Twitter accounts self–identified as HP or HP resident or shown as prespecified keywords in their biography.The exclusion criteria were:Non–institutional or personal profiles related with hospital pharmacy.Private companies profiles.Profiles without photo.Non–Spanish accounts.Each Twitter profile that met the inclusion criteria was followed by the new created account.To export the following accounts database and to analyse the data, two online tools were used: Twittonomy and Google Sheets, respectively.ResultsA total of 698 Twitter accounts were identified as SHP. Most of them (64.2%, n=448) corresponded with feminine profiles, and the rest were masculine (26.5%, n=185) or non-determined (9.3%, n=65).The number of institutional profiles was 22 (five associated with theSpanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy and 17 associated with their work teams).At the time of the study 25 Spanish Hospital Pharmacy Departments have an active Twitter profile.The rate of SHP with a Twitter account was 18.1%.ConclusionThere are many institutional Twitter accounts associated with the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy.Despite being a relevant hospital pharmacist community, the rate of SHP with a presence on Twitter is still low.References and/or AcknowledgementsSociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria (SEFH). SEFH, como organizarnos. Jornadas ‘EL POTENCIAL DE la SEFH’, puesta al día (07/06/2017) https://www. sefh. es/sefhjornadas/48_Sefh_como_organizarnos. pdfNo conflict of interest
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