Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
Which teaching about antiepileptic drugs is most important?
Which finding most favours serotonin syndrome over neuroleptic malignant syndrome?
A patient weighs 18 kg and is prescribed 15 mg/kg as a single dose. Find the dose D in mg.
A child weighing 12 kg is prescribed 5 mg/kg per dose of an oral suspension that contains 250 mg in 5 mL. What volume V do you give?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 67 kg patient is to be loaded with digoxin tablets to reach a level of 1 mcg/L. The volume of distribution is 7 L/kg and the tablets have a bioavailability F = 0.7. Find the total oral loading dose LD in mcg.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 55-year-old man weighs 51 kg and has a serum creatinine of 1.4 mg/dL (124 µmol/L). Estimate the creatinine clearance with Cockcroft–Gault: CrCl (mL/min) = (140 − age) × weight (kg)/(72 × SCr in mg/dL), × 0.85 for women. The usual tobramycin regimen is 120 mg every 8 h for a creatinine clearance of 120 mL/min. Keeping the dose, the interval is lengthened in proportion to the fall in clearance. Find the new dosing interval τ. Round to one decimal place.
Answer: C · Do not stop the drug suddenly, as this can trigger severe seizures
Abrupt withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs can cause rebound seizures and even status epilepticus. Any change is made gradually under medical supervision.
Answer: D · Rapid onset with hyperreflexia and clonus
Serotonin syndrome develops within hours of a serotonergic drug and causes clonus, hyperreflexia, agitation, dilated pupils and diarrhoea. NMS develops over days after a dopamine antagonist, with lead-pipe rigidity and slow reflexes.
Answer: D = 270 mg
Dose calculation: the amount to give equals what is prescribed divided by what you have, times the quantity it comes in: amount = (desired dose/stock strength) × stock volume. Always keep the units the same (convert g to mg, mg to mcg first) and check that the answer is sensible.
Answer: V = 1.2 mL
Dose calculation: the amount to give equals what is prescribed divided by what you have, times the quantity it comes in: amount = (desired dose/stock strength) × stock volume. Always keep the units the same (convert g to mg, mg to mcg first) and check that the answer is sensible.
Answer: LD = 670 mcg
Clearance and volume: at steady state the dosing rate equals the elimination rate, so the maintenance rate = CL × Css. A loading dose is LD = Vd × C/(S × F), with S the salt factor (fraction of active drug in the salt) and F the bioavailability (1 for IV). From two levels, k = ln(C₁/C₂)/Δt; for an IV bolus Vd = dose/C₀ and CL = k × Vd. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
In practice the dose is rounded to a convenient amount.
Answer: τ = 22.3 h
Designing a regimen: with rapid IV doses the level falls from peak to trough during the interval, so τ = ln(Cpeak/Ctrough)/k and the dose that restores the peak is Vd × (Cpeak − Ctrough). The average steady-state level is Css,avg = S·F·dose/(CL·τ). An infusion rises as C = (R/CL)(1 − e−kt). For a drug cleared by the kidneys, the dose is scaled with the creatinine clearance. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
In practice the interval is rounded to a convenient value such as 12, 24, 36 or 48 h.
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