Basel, Switzerland

Target Attainment of Continuous Infusion Flucloxacillin and Cefazolin Coupled With TDM vs. Standard of Care Treatment in Patients With Complicated S. Aureus Infection

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has recently been established as one of the cornerstones to individualize treatment of β-lactam antibiotics. It is particularly useful in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) being at risk to not achieve optimal antibiotic plasma concentrations due to a strongly altered metabolism. Along the same lines, continuous administration of β-lactam antibiotics instead of standard intermittent bolus administration may maintain drug concentrations in the target range throughout the dosing interval, and even contribute to a decrease in mortality. This prospective randomized, controlled interventional pilot trial, aims to compare the achievement of the optimal target concentration with continuously administered flucloxacillin (FLU) or cefazolin (CZO) coupled with TDM and subsequent dose adjustment versus standard of care (intermittent bolus application without TDM-guidance) in patients with complicated Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections (CSAI). The overall goal is to individualize and optimize antibiotic treatment in a very vulnerable group of patients overcoming the standard strategy of "one-dose-fits-all". The primary objective of this trial is to evaluate the achievement of the optimal pharmacological target concentration (100% fT 2 to 12 mg/L) in blood on day 3 after inclusion with continuous infusion FLU and CZO in combination with real-time TDM and subsequent dose adjustment, versus the current standard of care in patients with CSAI, and to estimate the effect size for future trials. To evaluate the PKPD of unbound FLU or CZO in the intervention versus the control group as measured by the following: - Drug concentration at second or later TDM including the incidence of high (e.g. 100% fT>12 mg/L) and low concentrations (e.g. 100% fT<2mg/L) - Incidence of potential drug-related toxicity during the course of treatment (e.g. nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity) - Time to optimal target attainment and percentage of days with optimal target attainment in relation to total study drug treatment duration - Intra-individual variability in FLU und CZO total and unbound plasma concentrations - Factors associated with pharmacological target attainment (e.g. kidney function, protein, albumin, age, sex, weight, concomitant medication) Sub-study I: - Evaluation of the pharmacological profile of penicillin in patients in whom treatment was changed from FLU or CZO to penicillin due to a penicillin susceptible S. aureus strain. Sub-study II: - Assessment of patient satisfaction, rest-activity rhythms and sleep quality by actigraphy, sleep diaries and questionnaire in patients admitted to a general ward. Patients will be randomized in two parallel groups stratified to the use of FLU or CZO in a 1:1 ratio to be treated either by continuous infusion plus TDM and dose adjustment or by standard intermittent bolus application. Drug concentrations will be measured at day 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and thereafter two times weekly until treatment period is completed (i.e. up to 6 weeks) or until discharge. After discharge, TDM will be performed 1x/week if the patient is treated in the outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT) program but without any dose adjustments. Dose adjustments of FLU and CZO in the intervention group will be performed according to a pharmacokinetic modelling application that is based on the data of our previous studies TARGET [2] and TARGET II (unpublished data). In the control group, blood samples will be drawn and analysed directly, but the results will not be communicated to the study team or a physician involved in the treatment of the patient. No TDM-guided dose adjustment will be performed in the control group

Characterization of Arrhythmia-induced Cardiomyopathy

Current studies indicate that AiCM is an under-recognized and an underestimated clinical entity and its prevalence is poorly documented. This project consists of a retrospective longitudinal cohort and case-control study followed by a prospective observational cohort study. The retrospective pilot study (1200 patients) is to define the incidence of AiCM in patients who presented to the University Hospital of Basel with a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction before or after the diagnosis of an arrhythmia suggestive to lead to an AiCM. The prospective study part (1500 patients) is to evaluate the predictors of adverse events and re-hospitalizations in patients with a suspicion of AiCM. The diagnosis of AiCM will be established using a "goldstandard diagnosis": 2 independent cardiologists will adjudicate the diagnosis based on all data from the initial hospital stay and follow-up including ECG, laboratory measurements, vital signs, echocardiography, coronary angiography, stress testing and other cardiovascular diagnostic steps. The most likely diagnosis will be chosen among a list of comprehensive, pre-selected choices. In cases of disagreement of the two reviewers, diagnosis will be discussed with a third senior physician and decision made. In order to optimize the care of patients with AiCM, the researchers intend to determine the prevalence of AICM, evaluate diagnostic criteria that allow an early diagnosis of AICM, and evaluate the current therapeutic management and prognosis of patients with AICM.

Emergency Department Triage of Patients With Acute Chest Pain Based on the ESC 0/1-hour Algorithm (PRESC1SE-MI)

Pharmacogenetic Testing of Patients With Unwanted Adverse Drug Reactions or Therapy Failure

Genetic makeup of a patient influences the efficacy and safety profile of a drug. This study is to summarize individual cases, where Pharmacogenetics (PGx) has been applied during pharmaceutical care. Health-related data of patients experiencing therapy failure (TF) or adverse drug reaction (ADR) is collected and will then be supplemented with pharmacogenetic testing during pharmaceutical care in a study pharmacy. The patient data (diagnoses, medications and results of pharmacogenetic testing) is harmonized in order to generate a compilation of case reports. The primary objective is the compilation of case reports, where pharmacogenetic testing is applied to determine the hereditable component of the patient's susceptibility to experience therapy failure and/or adverse drug reactions. The experience with the compiled cases will be basis for the development of a reliable standard of procedure for pharmacogenetic testing in the community pharmacy. The cases will be supplemented with information on additional Parameters reported in the literature to affect efficacy or safety of the respective drug.

Alternative Prophylaxis in Female Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Registry to Collect Data on Patients Undergoing Segmental Mandibular Defect Reconstruction Following Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Resection and Drugs-induced Osteonecrosis

Data will be prospectively collected from at least 300 patients with acquired segmental mandibular defects of 2 cm or larger following resection of tumors or necrotic/infected tissue, all of whom require mandibular reconstruction. The follow up (FU) will consist of standard of care (routine) procedures and data collection will be done at 3, 6, 12, 18 and up to 24 months after resection and/or reconstruction. The maximum FU for each patient within the registry will be 2 years after mandibular resection. Data collection will include confounding baseline data, tumor characteristics, neurological function, patient reported outcomes, quality of life as well as anticipated procedure-related adverse events (AEs). Available images will be collected and evaluated centrally to determine the location, positioning, osseointegration, bone quantity and quality of the transplants. Depending on the volume and quality of the collected data, different statistical analyses will be performed. Exploratory analyses will be conducted to find relationships between the different treatment modalities and their outcomes.

Epidemiology of Carbapenemase-producing Bacteria in a Swiss Tertiary Care Hospital

MAintenance Therapy With Aromatase Inhibitor in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (MATAO)

Femara (letrozole) is an extensively investigated, marketed aromatase inhibitor (AI) widely used as treatment in the maintenance phase of estrogen-receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, as it inhibit the synthesis of estrogens. Estrogen is a well known driver of cancer growth in ER-positive tumors and a high percentage of the epithelial ovarian cancers express ER as well. Of which low grade ovarian cancers demonstrates the highest level of expression, supporting our strategy of a sub-group analysis (LOGOS). Therefore, letrozole in this study be investigated prospectively and evaluated as maintenance therapy after standard surgical and chemotherapy treatment in comparison to placebo (which is the current standard maintenance treatment) in subjects with primary, ER-positive low or high grade serous or endometrioid epithelial ovarian cancer (including fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer) of FIGO Stage II-IV, whose cancer has not progressed by the end of the platinum-based chemotherapy. The objectives are to evaluate the letrozole maintenance treatment compared to placebo in terms of - progression-free survival (PFS; primary endpoint) - overall survival (OS) - quality-adjusted progression free survival (QAPFS) - time to first subsequent treatment (TFST) - quality-adjusted time without symptoms of toxicity (Q-TWiST) - health related quality of life (QoL) assessed by EQ-5D-5L, FACT-ES and FACT-O questionnaires Methods: 540 for this study eligible subjects are 1:1 allocated in this randomized, controlled, double-blinded, multi-centre study to either the test (letrozole) or control (placebo) group. The maximum maintenance treatment duration is 5 years or until symptoms of toxicity or progression of underlying disease. Health and health-related quality of life will continuously be assessed at study entry and during routine recalls which are scheduled every 12 weeks for the first 2 years, followed by every 24 weeks for the next 3 years. Procedures performed to assess the participants' health are the same as are performed during the regular routine ovarian cancer follow-up visits: blood tests, physical as well as gynaecological examinations and may include imaging. In addition, the participants are asked to complete during the study quality of life (QoL) specific questionnaires and wear an activity tracker for one week just before the scheduled visits. These assessments will be used for the evaluation of letrozole's efficacy and burden in comparison to the standard maintenance treatment. Survival follow-up data after the mainentance treatment duration of 5 years (study end) are obtained for up to another 7 years.

Quality of Life After Conservative and Surgical Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse