Korean J Clin Pharm.  2019 Jun;29(2):89-100. 10.24304/kjcp.2019.29.2.89.

Validation of Voriconazole Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Lung Transplant Recipients Receiving Voriconazole alone for Treatment of Invasive Aspergillosis

• Son YJ
• Lee KA
• Jo JH
• Kim JS
• Son ES
• Park MS

• KMID: 2452857
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24304/kjcp.2019.29.2.89

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, particularly among immunocompromised patients, such as lung transplant recipients. Voriconazole, the first-line therapy for IA, shows a non-linear pharmacokinetic profile and has a narrow therapeutic range. Careful and appropriate administration is necessary, primarily because it is used for critically ill patients; however, the clinical usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has not been sufficiently verified. Therefore, in this study, we validated the safety and efficacy of voriconazole TDM in lung transplant recipients receiving only voriconazole for IA treatment.
METHODS
The electronic medical records of lung transplant recipients (≥19 years of age) administered only voriconazole for > 7 days for treatment of IA from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2018 were analyzed retrospectively.
RESULTS
Among the 54 patients, 27 each were allocated to TDM and non-TDM groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the two groups except for ICU-hospitalization status. Of the TDM group patients, 81.5% needed adjustment of voriconazole dosage because the levels were out of target range. Comparison of two groups showed that treatment response was higher throughout treatment and switching rates of second-line agents were significantly lower in the TDM group, but it was insufficient to confirm safety improvements through voriconazole TDM.
CONCLUSION
Considering that the treatment response tended to be higher and the rates of switching to second-line antifungal agents were lower in the TDM group, voriconazole TDM may increase the therapeutic effect on IA in lung transplant patients.

Keyword

Voriconazole; invasive aspergillosis; lung transplantation; therapeutic drug monitoring

MeSH Terms

Antifungal Agents
Aspergillosis*
Critical Illness
Drug Monitoring*
Electronic Health Records
Humans
Immunocompromised Host
Lung Transplantation
Lung*
Mortality
Retrospective Studies
Transplant Recipients*
Voriconazole*
Antifungal Agents
Voriconazole