Adverse Drug Reactions Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Adverse Drug Reactions flashcards as text
Which classification system uses letters A through F to categorize adverse drug reactions by mechanism and predictability?
Answer: Rawlins-Thompson classification
The Rawlins-Thompson classification categorizes ADRs as Type A (augmented, dose-dependent) through Type F, describing mechanism and predictability.
A patient develops widespread blistering with mucosal involvement and epidermal detachment affecting >30% of BSA after starting allopurinol. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Answer: Toxic epidermal necrolysis
Toxic epidermal necrolysis is defined by epidermal detachment affecting >30% of body surface area and is a life-threatening ADR most commonly triggered by allopurinol, sulfonamides, or anticonvulsants.
A patient develops serotonin syndrome after starting tramadol while already prescribed sertraline. Which symptom triad is most characteristic?
Answer: Agitation, hyperthermia, and clonus
Serotonin syndrome presents with the classic triad of neuromuscular excitability (clonus, hyperreflexia), autonomic instability, and altered mental status including agitation and hyperthermia.
Which of the following drugs is LEAST likely to cause QTc interval prolongation?
Answer: Metformin
Metformin does not affect cardiac ion channels; QT-prolonging drugs include macrolide antibiotics, antipsychotics, and antiarrhythmics that block cardiac hERG potassium channels.
A patient on isoniazid for tuberculosis develops jaundice and ALT 10 times the upper limit of normal. What pattern of drug-induced liver injury is this?
Answer: Hepatocellular hepatotoxicity
Isoniazid causes predominantly hepatocellular injury with markedly elevated ALT; it can progress to fulminant hepatic failure if not discontinued promptly upon recognition.
Which reporting scheme should UK prescribers use to report suspected adverse drug reactions for marketed medicines?
Answer: Yellow Card scheme
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme is the UK pharmacovigilance system for reporting suspected ADRs to prescription medicines, over-the-counter products, and vaccines.
A Type B adverse drug reaction is best characterized by which of the following features?
Answer: Idiosyncratic and unrelated to normal drug pharmacology
Type B (bizarre) reactions are unpredictable, not dose-dependent, and unrelated to the drug's known pharmacological actions, with penicillin anaphylaxis being the classic example.