TY - JOUR AU - Lo Surdo, Giuseppa AU - Volpi, Elisabetta AU - Bertolini, Alberto AU - di Grazia, Daisy AU - Tonazzini, Sara AU - Alduini, Stefania AU - Gini, Rosa AU - Baroni, Monica AU - Maffei, Stefano AU - Biagini, Stefania T1 - Drug-drug interactions in patients
with cardiovascular disease PY - 2021 Y1 - 2021-07-01 DO - 10.1721/3720.37115 JO - Giornale Italiano di Farmacia Clinica JA - GIFAC VL - 35 IS - 4 SP - 159 EP - 165 PB - Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore SN - 1120-3749 Y2 - 2026/04/15 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1721/3720.37115 N2 - Summary. Introduction. Aim of this study was to have a clear understanding of the prevalence of patients exposed to potentially relevant Drug-Drug Interactions (DDIs) during transitions of care in a population of patient with cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods. We analyzed the medication list prescribed at discharge in adult patients with cardiovascular diseases discharged at home from our Cardiovascular Department from December 2016 to December 2017. We used the INTERcheck database in order to detect any potential DDIs. We compared those medications with the therapy taken at home during the 3 months before hospitalization and after discharge, obtained from the regional prescription registry. In order to check if any adverse clinical events was associated with DDIs, we reviewed the causes of each hospitalization or access to the emergency department (ED) within 3 months after discharge. Results. We analyzed 16,479 prescriptions at discharge of 2,144 patients with cardiovascular disease and we found 1,108 potential DDIs referred to 624 (29%) patients. At least 75% (n=827) of all the potential DDIs reported at discharge could be prevented and avoided by a medication reconciliation process. During the follow-up period we observed that 54% of patients with at least one potential DDI at discharge maintained the same potential interaction and 6% (n=34) had been hospitalized due to adverse event potentially associated with the DDIs reported. Conclusions. The number of potential DDIs increase exponentially with the number of drugs prescribed not only at discharge but also before and after hospitalization. Those interactions were found to be associated with adverse events that may be prevented by appropriate medication reconciliation. Reducing polypharmacy and performing an accurate medication reconciliation at transitions of care may improve patient safety, efficacy of medications and quality of care and outcome. ER -