Resumen Antecedentes: Una prescripción potencialmente inapropiada (PPI) constituye un riesgo de presentar efectos adversos por un fármaco que superan los beneficios de este, pudiendo considerarse como uso inadecuado de medicamentos. Objetivo: Describir la prevalencia de prescripciones potencialmente inapropiadas en pacientes geriátricos hospitalizados en el servicio de medicina interna de un hospital de referencia en México. Material y métodos: Diseño descriptivo transversal, con asignación simple de expedientes clínicos de pacientes hospitalizados mayores de 65 años, entre enero de 2016 y agosto de 2017. Se aplicaron los criterios STOPP y START para identificar el número de PPI, cantidad de medicamentos prescritos, presencia, cantidad y tipo de comorbilidades, así como días de estancia hospitalaria. Resultados: Se encontró una prevalencia de 73.3 % de PPI y las principales comorbilidades fueron hipertensión arterial y diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Se cuantificaron 1885 medicamentos prescritos; la estancia hospitalaria media fue de 6.3 días. Conclusiones: Se identificó alta prevalencia de PPI en los pacientes geriátricos hospitalizados, de ahí la importancia de aplicar los criterios STOPP y START y del papel del farmacéutico en la validación de la prescripción antes de la administración de medicamentos.

Abstract Background: Potentially inappropriate prescription (PIP) constitutes a risk for the development of adverse effects of a drug that outweigh its benefits, which can be considered inappropriate medication use. Objective: To describe the prevalence of PIP in geriatric patients hospitalized at the internal medicine department of a referral hospital in Mexico. Material and methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive design, with simple allocation of medical records from patients older than 65 years hospitalized between January 2016 and August 2017. The STOPP/START criteria were applied to identify the number of PIPs, the number of prescribed medications, number and type of comorbidities, as well as days of hospital stay. Results: A prevalence of PIP of 73.3% was identified, with main comorbidities being hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 1,885 prescribed medications were quantified; mean hospital stay was 6.3 days. Conclusions: A high prevalence of PIP was identified in hospitalized geriatric patients, hence the importance of applying the STOPP/START criteria and of the role of the pharmacist for validating the prescription prior to drug administration.

BACKGROUND Infective endocarditis is a disease characterised by heart valve lesions, which exhibit extracellular matrix proteins that act as a physical barrier to prevent the passage of antimicrobial agents. The genus Candida has acquired clinical importance given that it is increasingly being isolated from cases of nosocomial infections. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the activity of caspofungin compared to that of liposomal amphotericin B against Candida albicans in experimental infective endocarditis. METHODS Wistar rats underwent surgical intervention and infection with strains of C. albicans to develop infective endocarditis. Three groups were formed: the first group was treated with caspofungin, the second with liposomal amphotericin B, and the third received a placebo. In vitro sensitivity was first determined to further evaluate the effect of these treatments on a rat experimental model of endocarditis by semiquantitative culture of fibrinous vegetations and histological analysis. FINDINGS Our semiquantitative culture of growing vegetation showed massive C. albicans colonisation in rats without treatment, whereas rats treated with caspofungin showed significantly reduced colonisation, which was similar to the results obtained with liposomal amphotericin B. CONCLUSIONS The antifungal activity of caspofungin is similar to that of liposomal amphotericin B in an experimental model of infective endocarditis caused by C. albicans.