Dermatologist's Guide to Adverse Therapeutic Interactions, H.Irving Katz, M.D.
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.5070/D35xf046tkMain Content
Dermatologist's Guide to Adverse Therapeutic Interactions
H.Irving Katz, M.D.
Lippincott-Raven, Philadelphia, 1997
288 pages with 7 Appendices. Price: $29.00
ISBN 0-397-58476-8
ReviewThe practice of Dermatology is quite varied and busy. Patients with cardiac, gastrointestinal and chronic lung diseases often associated with diabetes mellitus take one or more medications daily. Thus, potential drug-drug interactions are possible in our patient population whether in an academic-residency training or day-to-day practice environment. |
| Dr. Katz's pocketbook uses an alphabetical list format for each therapeutic dermatological agent. Within the specific drug list is an alphabetical listing of all interacting drugs. Arrows indicating increased or decreased absorption(AB), clearance(CL), or blood level(BL) of the therapeutic drug are used extensively. Major help is provided by "flags" for contraindicated combination therapy, e.g., erythromycin with theophylline or terfenadine.
Seven appendices before the references list Cytochrome P450 Categories, Medication Classes, Adverse Experiences/Medication Classes, and Brand/Generic Names. For example, to find a generic equivalent of a brand name just find the appropriate appendix then the drug in the alphabetical listing with adjacent generic name. Lastly, 1223 references appropriately footnoted throughout the book are provided by Dr. Katz. The pocketbook format is easy to use in a daily practice or hospital environment. Thus, Dr. Katz's book will be most appreciated by medical students, residents, nurses, nurse practitioners, PAs, pharmacists(hospital, clinical or retail), and clinicians. Anyone who precribes, dispenses, or takes medication, such as patients, will have use for this drug-drug interaction fact book. Patients on numerous medications would find the book very helpful. The most useful aspect of the book for physicians is as a reference for drugs precribed to patients on multiple drugs. Potential drug-drug interactions/reactions can thus be averted. Since this is a very focused book I did not find any major weaknesses in the provided information, formator ability to use it in an efficient manner. Traditional cutaneous drug reaction texts are heavily laden with color photos or are in a list format that emphasizes the cutaneous morphological pattern with subsequent listed causative drugs, such as W. Bruinsma's "A Guide to Drug Eruptions(Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)". In contrast, J.Z. Litt's "Drug Eruption Reference Manual(Wal-Zac Enterprises, Cleveland, Ohio)" uses the list format of alphabetically arranged drugs with subsequent listing of the drug eruption patterns and general references. Dr. Katz's book is a well organized A to Z pocketbook that emphasizes drug-drug interactions that are usually learned from anecdotal reports, pharmaceutical bulletin reports or from the fine print in the PDR. In this Cyberspace age other online Drug Reaction Databases are available such as the Dartmouth database(an electronic edition of J. Litt's text via the AAD website-www.aad.org), the PDR website (www.pdrnet.com) or a popular pharmacist's website (www.rxlist.com). It takes time to access information online but more importantly it is not the same information provided in Dr. Katz's book that can be accessed in a convenient pocketbook format. This pocketbook is highly recommended as an addition to your medical bookshelf. You will eventually realize it will become one of your top five texts used on a daily basis. |
| by |
Thomas F. Downham II, M.D. Department of Dermatology Henry Ford Medical Center |
© 1997 Dermatology Online Journal |