Drug Therapy Monitoring & Clinical Decision-Making Flashcards
7 cards from real MTM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Drug Therapy Monitoring & Clinical Decision-Making flashcards as text
A patient with heart failure (EF 35%) is started on carvedilol. Which clinical response would indicate the drug should be titrated up sooner than planned?
Answer: Patient reports improved dyspnea on exertion at 2 weeks
Symptomatic improvement such as reduced dyspnea indicates the patient is tolerating beta-blockade well and supports dose uptitration.
Which therapeutic drug monitoring parameter is MOST clinically relevant for vancomycin in treating MRSA bacteremia?
Answer: AUC24/MIC ratio of 400-600 mg·h/L
Current ASHP/IDSA/SIDP guidelines recommend AUC24/MIC-guided vancomycin dosing (400-600) over trough-only monitoring for MRSA infections.
A patient's tacrolimus trough is 3.2 ng/mL at 6 months post-kidney transplant (target 5-10 ng/mL). After ruling out non-adherence, what is the most likely cause of subtherapeutic levels?
Answer: Recent initiation of rifampin
Rifampin is a potent CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein inducer that can reduce tacrolimus levels by up to 90%, leading to rejection risk.
In a patient with stage 4 CKD (eGFR 22 mL/min/1.73m²) and type 2 diabetes, which glucose-lowering agent requires the most significant dose adjustment?
Answer: Metformin
Metformin is contraindicated when eGFR falls below 30 mL/min/1.73m² due to risk of lactic acidosis from drug accumulation.
Which monitoring frequency is appropriate for patients on long-term oral corticosteroids to screen for a common metabolic complication?
Answer: Fasting glucose at baseline and every 3 months
Corticosteroids cause gluconeogenesis and insulin resistance, making quarterly fasting glucose monitoring essential to detect steroid-induced hyperglycemia.
A patient on phenytoin for epilepsy has a total phenytoin level of 8 mcg/mL with albumin of 2.1 g/dL. What does this result indicate?
Answer: Likely therapeutic free phenytoin level despite low total
Using the Sheiner-Tozer equation, corrected phenytoin = 8/(0.2×2.1 + 0.1) ≈ 16 mcg/mL, suggesting adequate free drug levels despite low albumin.
When assessing adherence in a patient with poorly controlled hypertension, which objective measure provides the most reliable verification?
Answer: Pharmacy refill records over 6 months
Pharmacy refill records (medication possession ratio) provide an objective, longitudinal measure of adherence that is less subject to white-coat bias than clinic-based assessments.