• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.95-105
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• 2008

Objectives : This study is to establish the appropriate assessment of causalities from adverse events (AEs) which are related to acupuncture treatment. Methods : We assessed thirty AEs which were caused in the early phase trial on concomitant use of acupuncture and herbal medicines. We scored each AE on the questionnaire in Naranjo and SNU algorithm scale which are for drug causality assessment in pharmacoepidemiology. Results : In Naranjo scale, there were consistencies among the evaluators qualitatively with "Probable", "Possible" degree. In reliability test, parameters, such as, gamma and kendall's tau-b revealed the degrees of 73%, and 32%, respectively. There were disaccordant tendency in SNU algorithm scale. Conclusion : A new algorithm which reflects acupuncture properties should be developed and elucidated.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.154-157
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• 2018

Levosulpiride is one of the most frequently prescribed medicines in Korea. An adverse drug reaction (ADR) after taking levosulpiride was reported at a community pharmacy in Korea. A 31-year-old woman reported the symptoms of lactation and amenorrhea after taking levosulpiride; an evaluation of whether these symptoms were caused by the medication was therefore necessary. Several tools can be used to determine if the ADR resulted from the administered drug or other factors, including the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) criteria, the Naranjo scale, and the Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver. 2). The causality was evaluated as "possible" by the WHO-UMC and Naranjo scales, but as "probable" by the Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver. 2). In conclusion, the information provided did not indicate definite causality and there were slight differences in the results obtained from each assessment method.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1203-1209
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• 2018

Background/Aims: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an appreciably harmful or unpleasant reaction, resulting from an intervention related to the use of a medicinal product. The present study was conducted in order to monitor the frequency and severity of ADR during antimicrobial therapy of septicemia. Methods: A prospective, observational, and noncomparative study was conducted over a period of 6 months on patients of septicemia admitted at a university hospital. Naranjo algorithm scale was used for causality assessment. Severity assessment was done by Hartwig severity scale. Results: ADRs in selected hospitalized patients of septicemia was found to be in 26.5% of the study population. During the study period, 12 ADRs were confirmed occurring in 9, out of 34 admitted patients. Pediatric patients experienced maximum ADRs, 44.4%. Females experienced a significantly higher incidence of ADRs, 66.7%. According to Naranjo's probability scale, 8.3% of ADRs were found to be definite, 58.3% as probable, and 33.3% as possible. A higher proportion of these ADRs, 66.7% were preventable in nature. Severity assessment showed that more than half of ADRs were moderate. Teicoplanin was found to be the commonest antimicrobial agent associated with ADRs, followed by gemifloxacin and ofloxacin. Conclusions: The incidence and severity of ADRs observed in the present study was substantially high indicating the need of extra vigilant during the antimicrobial therapy of septicemia.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.302-307
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• 2011

One of the most important objectives of post-marketing monitoring of dietary supplements is the early detection of unknown and unexpected adverse events (AEs). Several causality algorithms, such as the Naranjo scale, the RUCAM scale, and the M & V scale are available for the estimation of the likelihood of causation between a product and an AE. Based on the existing algorithms, the Korea Food & Drug Administration has developed a new algorithm tool to reflect the characteristics of dietary supplements in the causality analysis. However, additional work will be required to confirm if the newly developed algorithm tool has reasonable sensitivity and not to generate an unacceptable number of false positives signals.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2020

The emergence of phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 inhibitors gave rise to the solution for erectile dysfunction, starting with the development of sildenafil. Although their efficacy in treating erectile dysfunction has been shown, the side effects of PDE5 inhibitors, especially sildenafil, must be taken into consideration. A 64-year-old man received 100 mg of sildenafil and experienced blue vision in both eyes; however, after a day or so, his symptoms improved. The symptoms disappeared when he stopped administering sildenafil, but reappeared when the medication was re-administered. Therefore, he discontinued sildenafil treatment and was prescribed udenafil instead. After that, visual adverse events no longer occurred. Causality assessment showed that in this case, sildenafil-induced cyanopsia was "certain" under the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Center (WHO-UMC) criteria and Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver.2), and was "probable" according to the Naranjo scale. In addition, sildenafil also led to abnormal visual reactions in other cases. Sildenafil can also inhibit PDE6, which is present in retinal cells, unlike other PDE5 inhibitors. Thus, visual adverse reactions, such as blue vision, are the unique results of sildenafil, and other PDE5 inhibitors may be used to prevent them.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-80
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• 2013

메치실린 저항성 황색 포도상구균(MRSA)에 감염된 환자에게 단기간 연속적으로 반코마이신을 투여했을 때 비정상적으로 호중구의 수치가 감소한 약인성 부작용 사례를 보고하고자 한다. 해당 여성 환자는 61세로서 MRSA 감염증을 판정받고 반코마이신 투여와 더불어 점차 백혈구(WBC)와 절대호중구수치(ANC)가 감소하였고, 제10일째에 이르러 호중구 감소증이 발생하여 ANC가 최저 430 $cells/mm^3$까지 낮아졌으나, 반코마이신의 투여를 중단하자 곧 정상수준으로 회복되었다. 본 사례는 Naranjo Probability Scale과 Korean Algorithm Score(Ver. 2.0)로 각각 평가하였을 때 반코마이신의 투여와 호중구감소증의 발현 사이에 모두 '가능한(probable)' 정도의 인과관계를 가진 것으로 평가되었다. 이는 통상적으로 20일 이상 연속투여를 할 때 임상적으로 관측되던 반코마이신-유래 호중구감소증이 단지 10일 정도의 단기간 투여만으로도 발생할 수 있다는 임상적 약물부작용의 사례로서, 향후 MRSA환자에게 반코마이신을 선택할 때에는 이와 같은 부작용을 고려하여 환자의 WBC와 ANC를 면밀히 관찰하면서 투여할 필요성이 있음을 시사한다.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2019

Atorvastatin is one of the most widely prescribed medications for dyslipidemia treatment. In Korea, post combined therapy with ezetimibe, a 73-year-old woman was reported by a community pharmacy to have experienced visual field defect, which recovered after drug discontinuation. She had never experienced this symptom before, and several studies have reported an association between use of statins and visual disorders such as blurred vision, diplopia, and cataract. Blockage of cholesterol accumulation, oxidative stress, or myopathy is expected to be a cause of this symptom. Naranjo scale, Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver.2), and World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Center (WHO-UMC) criteria were the three tools used to determine causality between the visual disorder and atorvastatin. The results represent 'probable', 'certain', and 'probable/likely' causality, respectively. Our results, in combination with a review of literature, indicate that ocular adverse effects are highly likely related to atorvastatin.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2019

Doxycycline is frequently prescribed to treat urogenital infections or acne vulgaris. A 39-year-old man was prescribed doxycycline as a treatment for his skin infection. He took each tablet on an empty stomach in the morning, and just before going to bed with insufficient water. After taking the prescribed medication for approximately 3 weeks, he was diagnosed with esophageal ulcer. He had not experienced these symptoms before, and the drug label says that doxycycline rarely causes esophageal ulcer. After discontinuing the medication, the symptoms disappeared. Using the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Center criteria, the causality for doxycycline-induced esophageal ulcer was evaluated as "possible." Additionally, using the Naranjo scale and Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver. 2), the causality was evaluated as "probable." Previous reports have stated that most patients who took doxycycline with insufficient water just before going to bed or in the supine position developed esophageal ulcer. Therefore, all patients taking doxycycline must be provided with detailed instructions about the appropriate administration methods.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2019

Oseltamivir is an antiviral medication prescribed to prevent and treat influenza A and B. A case from a community pharmacy in Korea was reported for an adverse event associated with oseltamivir administration. A 20-month-old boy had psychiatric symptoms after receiving 2 doses of oseltamivir. Therefore, an evaluation of whether the psychiatric symptoms were caused by oseltamivir was required. To determine whether the adverse event resulted from the administrated medication or other factors, three tools were used: the Naranjo scale, the Korean causality assessment algorithm (Ver.2), and the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Center (WHO-UMC) criteria. The psychiatric symptoms occurred after oseltamivir administration, and were attenuated after oseltamivir termination. A possible cause of the psychiatric symptoms is high fever, but information on the body temperature of the patient was not sufficient. Therefore, it was unclear whether there were other nonpharmacological causes of adverse drug reaction. For these reasons, in terms of causality, the results evaluated by the three tools represented, "possible", "probable", and "probable/likely", respectively.