Monographs on drugs which are frequently analyzed in therapeutic drug monitoring/Arzneimittel-Monographien für Medikamente, die regelmäßig im Rahmen des Therapeutic Drug Monitorings analysiert werden

In addition to the monographs which have been published in the last 6 years by the working group “Drug Monitoring” of the Swiss Society of Clinical Chemistry (SSCC) [Rentsch, Fathi, Grignaschi, Magnin, Printzen, Thormann, J Lab Med 29: 287–97, 2005 – Rentsch, Buhl, Eap, Fathi, Jöchle, Magnin, J Lab Med 34: 129–39, 2010], new monographs have been written. The data presented in these monographs provide an overview of the information which is important for the request and interpretation of the results. Therefore, laboratory health professionals and the receivers of the reports are the targeted readers. With the exception of digoxin, the drugs presented in this series are not administered frequently and are only analyzed in special situations. First, information about pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of these drugs (protein binding, metabolic pathways and enzymes involved, elimination half-life time and elimination route(s) of the parent drug and therapeutic as well as toxic concentrations) is given. Secondly, the indications for therapeutic drug monitoring are listed. Last but not least, important preanalytical information is provided, including time points of blood sampling and time interval after which steady-state concentrations are reached after changing the dose. Furthermore, the stability of the drug and its metabolite(s) after blood sampling are described. For readers with a specific interest, references to important publications are given. The number of the monographs will be further enlarged. The updated files are presented on the homepage of the SSCC (www.sscc.ch). We hope that these monographs are helpful for the better handling of therapeutic drug monitoring and we are looking forward to receiving comments from the readers. Ergänzend zu den in den letzten sechs Jahren publizierten Arzneimittelmonographien der Arbeitsgruppe Medikamente der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Klinische Chemie (SGKC) [Rentsch, Fathi, Grignaschi, Magnin, Printzen, Thormann, J Lab Med 29: 287–97, 2005 – Rentsch, Buhl, Eap, Fathi, Jöchle, Magnin, J Lab Med 34: 129–39, 2010], sind weitere Monographien erstellt worden. Wiederum sollen diese Monographien dem Labormediziner bzw. dem Empfänger der Befunde eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten Informationen geben, die für die Veranlassung einer Analyse bzw. für die Interpretation der Resultate hilfreich sind. In dieser Serie werden verschiedene Medikamente vorgestellt, die mit Ausnahme von Digoxin nur noch selten verordnet oder