Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 25, 2015, at 7:29:13
In reply to Re: Proper heart precautions with Clozapine, posted by Lamdage22 on February 25, 2015, at 6:01:02
>So what you are saying is that i should get weekly blood tests checking the amount of white blood cells, eosinophil, CRP and troponin.
The white cell counts are an absolute requirement. The test includes eosinophils.
>For how many weeks?
The blood counts will continue weekly for quite a number of weeks before you would switch to less frequent testing. The requirements vary from country to country. I expect the requirements are the same in all European countries, as follows.....
The white cell count with a differential count must be monitored:
At least weekly for the first 18 weeks of treatment
At least at 2 week intervals between weeks 18 and 52
After 1 year of treatment with stable neutrophil counts, patients may be monitored at least at 4 week intervals
Monitoring must continue throughout treatment and for at least 4 weeks after discontinuation
>CRP and troponin.
These tests are potentially valuable, and you can ask about them. They are not essential however, and not all doctors perform them routinely. In general, if you doc does them, you would have a baseline test shortly before starting treatment and then one test per week for the first few weeks eg. the first 4 weeks, approx.
These tests are most useful if you have *symptoms* of myocarditis, in which case they should be performed as soon as the diagnosis is suspected.
>And weekly ECGs?
No. You would normally have one before starting treatment, unless you've had one very recently with no abnormalities. A repeat ECG may be performed after a few weeks of treatment. Otherwise, you only need one if there is a problem eg. a large heart rate increase which persists.
Hope this helps.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:1077013
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150223/msgs/1077101.html