PMID- 31338169 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20220411 IS - 2047-9956 (Print) IS - 2047-9964 (Electronic) IS - 2047-9956 (Linking) VI - 26 IP - 4 DP - 2019 Jul TI - Tolerance and safety of rapid 2-hour infusion of rituximab in patients with kidney-affecting autoimmune diseases and glomerulonephritides: a single-centre experience. PG - 210-213 LID - 10.1136/ejhpharm-2017-001454 [doi] AB - OBJECTIVE: According to the manufacturer's documentation, rituximab (RTX) should be administered with slow infusion rates to prevent infusion-related adverse events (AEs). Nevertheless, slow infusions are time-consuming and uncomfortable for patients and medical staff. Therefore, faster infusion rates have been studied and proven safe and well tolerated in lymphomas and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A small amount of data is available for rapid RTX infusions in non-RA autoimmune diseases. METHODS: Beginning in September 2015, all RTX-reated patients in our centre and willing to participate, were switched from slow RTX infusions (4.25 hours, given at least once to all patients) to fast infusions (2 hours). A total of 85 RTX 2-hour infusions was administered to 53 patients with autoimmune diseases with renal involvement and selected primary glomerulonephritides (26 ANCA-associated vasculitis, nine systemic lupus erythematodes, seven membranous nephropathy, five IgM nephropathy and six other autoimmune disease). Most of the patients received chronic corticosteroid therapy. The prednisone equivalent dose median (IQR) was 0.1 (0.0-0.2) mg/kg/day. RESULTS: Rapid RTX infusions were generally well tolerated. Only two infusion-related AEs were recorded: one Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, grade 3, (lower back pain and hypotension followed by chills necessitating methylprednisolone and dipyrone administration) and one grade 1 (subjective intolerance). The AEs frequency does not differ from other studies with rapid RTX infusions in patients with lymphomas and RA. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience supported other published data and provides evidence concerning the safety of non-initial RTX 2-hour infusion which can be administered without raising the infusion-related AEs rate in patients with kidney-affecting autoimmune diseases and glomerulonephritides. FAU - Hartinger, Jan Miroslav AU - Hartinger JM AD - Institute of Pharmacology, Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. FAU - Satrapova, Veronika AU - Satrapova V AD - Department of Nephrology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. FAU - Hruskova, Zdenka AU - Hruskova Z AD - Department of Nephrology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. FAU - Tesar, Vladimir AU - Tesar V AD - Department of Nephrology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20180228 PL - England TA - Eur J Hosp Pharm JT - European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice JID - 101578294 PMC - PMC6613926 OTO - NOTNLM OT - anca associated vasculitis OT - infusion related adverse events OT - membranous nephropathy OT - rapid infusion OT - rituximab COIS- Competing interests: None declared. EDAT- 2019/07/25 06:00 MHDA- 2019/07/25 06:01 PMCR- 2020/07/01 CRDT- 2019/07/25 06:00 PHST- 2017/11/17 00:00 [received] PHST- 2018/01/11 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2018/02/06 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2019/07/25 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2019/07/25 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2019/07/25 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2020/07/01 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - ejhpharm-2017-001454 [pii] AID - 10.1136/ejhpharm-2017-001454 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Eur J Hosp Pharm. 2019 Jul;26(4):210-213. doi: 10.1136/ejhpharm-2017-001454. Epub 2018 Feb 28.