The aprotinin story began in 1987, when investigators reportedthat the use of the drug in patients undergoing repeat open-heartsurgery decreased the need for blood transfusion by a factorof 8.1 In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvedthe use of aprotinin to reduce blood loss during coronary-arterybypass grafting, and the drug became widely used in cardiacsurgery. In 2006, the use of aprotinin became controversialwhen the drug was associated with an increased risk of renalfailure, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death in a largeobservational study.2,3 Two subsequent cohort studies also linkedaprotinin to . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Source Information
From the Vanderbilt University Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (W.A.R., C.M.S.); the Departments of Preventive Medicine (W.A.R.) and Medicine (C.M.S.), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; and the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center (W.A.R.) — all in Nashville.
This article (10.1056/NEJMe0803514) was published at www.nejm.org on May 14, 2008.
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