Pharmacokinetic Study in Patients Receiving Posaconazole Therapy in Taiwan

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) may cause high mortality and morbidity in immune- compromised patients. Posaconazole, a new triazole antifungal agent with broad spectrum coverage, was approved for both treatment and prophylaxis of IFIs. Previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between posaconazole plasma concentration and efficacy, thus, the importance of posaconazole therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) was gradually accepted. However, studies found inter- and intra-individual variation between concentrations, and these phenomenons were affected greatly by GI function, food intake and concomitant medication. Furthermore, there's a lack of posaconazole TDM study in Asian population.

The study was designed to describe the prescribing pattern of posaconazole, to study the relationship between concentration and clinical outcomes/ adverse events, to identify factors that influence plasma concentration, and to evaluate whether routine TDM is needed in our institution.