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Individualizing theophylline dosage: Evaluation of a single-point maintenance dose prediction method

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Summary

A dosage prediction method to estimate theophylline clearance and dose requirement was evaluated in 22 outpatients with partly reversible obstructive airways disease. The steady state theophylline dose required to achieve a target concentration (Css) was predicted using a single serum theophylline determination 8 h after a single oral test dose. In 17 nonsmoking patients a mean absolute deviation of 8.2% (range 0.0–21.7%) between predicted and observed Css was found, and in 5 smoking patients the mean deviation was 34.0% (range 2.2–53.8%). In 17 healthy smokers the single-point method was found to predict theophylline clearance at a sampling time of 8 h with a prediction error of 11.3 (range 0.8–25.3%) compared to the clearance determination using the area under the curve. In addition, a numerical simulation program to assess the influence of absorption, elimination and sampling time on predictive accuracy showed that the method could be successfully applied to a patient population with elimination rate constants between 0.07 1/h and 0.25 1/h, allowing a mean prediction error of 15%.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentren für Laboratoriumsmedizin und Innere Medizin der Medizinischen Hochschule, Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany

    J. H. Wilkens, H. Neuenkirchen, G. W. Sybrecht & M. Oellerich

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  1. J. H. Wilkens
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  2. H. Neuenkirchen
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  3. G. W. Sybrecht
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  4. M. Oellerich
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Wilkens, J.H., Neuenkirchen, H., Sybrecht, G.W. et al. Individualizing theophylline dosage: Evaluation of a single-point maintenance dose prediction method. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 26, 491–498 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00542147

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00542147

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