Author: Kayla Korzekwinski
Anaerobic antimicrobial therapy after necrotizing enterocolitis in VLBW infants
Pediatrics • January 2015
Autmizguine J, Hornik CP, Benjamin DK Jr, Laughon MM, Clark RH, Cotten CM, Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Benjamin DK, Smith PB; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act—Pediatric Trials Network Administrative Core Committee.
To evaluate the effect of anaerobic antimicrobial therapy for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) on clinical outcomes in very low birth weight (≤1500 g) infants. We identified very low birth weight infants with NEC from 348 US NICUs from 1997 to 2012. Anaerobic antimicrobial therapy was defined by antibiotic exposure on the first day of NEC. We matched (1:1) infants exposed to anaerobic antimicrobial therapy with infants who were not exposed by using a propensity score stratified by NEC severity (medical and surgical).
Safety of milrinone use in neonatal intensive care units
Early Human Development • January 2015
Samiee-Zafarghandy S, Raman SR, van den Anker JN, McHutchison K, Hornik CP, Clark RH, Smith PB; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act—Pediatric Trials Network Administrative Core Committee.
Milrinone use in the neonatal intensive care unit has increased over the last 10 years despite a paucity of published safety data in infants. We sought to determine the safety of milrinone therapy among infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. We conducted a retrospective data analysis, identifying all infants who were exposed to milrinone and discharged from 322 neonatal intensive care units managed by the Pediatrix Medical Group from 1997-2010.
Editorial commentary: Fluconazole therapeutic drug monitoring in children with cancer: not today
Clinical Infectious Disease • December 2014
Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Benjamin DK Jr.
This editorial focuses on insufficient fluconazole exposure in pediatric cancer patients and the need for therapeutic drug monitoring in critically ill children.
Intestinal Fatty-Acid Binding Protein and Metronidazole Response in Premature Infants
Journal of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine • November 2014
Sampson MR, Bloom BT, Arrieta A, Capparelli E, Benjamin DK Jr, Smith PB, Kearns GL, van den Anker J, Cohen-Wolkowiez M.
In premature infants with suspected intra-abdominal infection, biomarkers for treatment response to antimicrobial therapy are lacking. Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) is specific to the enterocyte and is released in response to intestinal mucosal injury. I-FABP has not been evaluated as a surrogate marker of disease response to antimicrobial therapy. We examined the relationship between metronidazole exposure and urinary I-FABP concentrations in premature infants with suspected intra-abdominal infection.
Medication use in the neonatal intensive care unit
American Journal of Perinatology • October 2014
Hsieh EM, Hornik CP, Clark RH, Laughon MM, Benjamin DK Jr, Smith PB; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act—Pediatric Trials Network.
The aim of the article is to provide an update on medication use in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the United States and examine how use has changed over time. We performed a retrospective review (2005-2010) of a large prospectively collected administrative database.
Use of opportunistic clinical data and a population pharmacokinetic model to support dosing of clindamycin for premature infants to adolescents
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics • September 2014
Gonzalez D, Melloni C, Yogev R, Poindexter BB, Mendley SR, Delmore P, Sullivan JE, Autmizguine J, Lewandowski A, Harper B, Watt KM, Lewis KC, Capparelli EV, Benjamin DK Jr, Cohen-Wolkowiez M; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act – Pediatric Trials Network Administrative Core Committee.
Clindamycin is commonly prescribed to treat children with skin and skin-structure infections (including those caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA)), yet little is known about its pharmacokinetics (PK) across pediatric age groups. A population PK analysis was performed in NONMEM using samples collected in an opportunistic study from children receiving i.v. clindamycin per standard of care.
Characterization of the population pharmacokinetics of ampicillin in neonates using an opportunistic study design
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy • June 2014
Tremoulet A, Le J, Poindexter B, Sullivan JE, Laughon M, Delmore P, Salgado A, Ian-U Chong S, Melloni C, Gao J, Benjamin DK Jr, Capparelli EV, Cohen-Wolkowiez M; Administrative Core Committee of the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act-Pediatric Trials Network.
Although ampicillin is the most commonly used drug in neonates, developmental pharmacokinetic (PK) data to guide dosing are lacking. Ampicillin is primarily renally eliminated, and developmental changes are expected to influence PK. We conducted an open-label, multicenter, opportunistic, prospective PK study of ampicillin in neonates stratified by gestational age (GA) (≤ 34 or >34 weeks) and postnatal age (PNA) (≤ 7 or >7 days).