Intravenous drug abusers

NEEDLE SHARING AMONG INTRAVENOUS DRUG ABUSERS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES. Robert J. Battjes, D.S.W., and Roy W. Pickens, Ph.D., eds. 

HCV Hepatitis C virus IVDA Intravenous drug abuse... 

A post-mortem examination and a rectal temperature of 41°C (106°F) were recorded. He had needle marks typical of intravenous drug abuse and pulmonary and cerebral edema. Abrasions and contusions of the ankles and wrists were evident from his struggling. Lidocaine was not administered to the victim during the resuscitative attempts. The clinical presentation of cocaine delirium... 

Intravenous drug abusers may make up a small part of our overall drug abuse clientele, therefore it is easy to identify this group, single them out for special attention, and miss the fact that clients using... 

Methadone is often used for opioid replacement therapy in intravenous drug abusers. The incidence of HIV infection is significantly higher in this population than in the general public, and interactions with drugs used for the treatment of AIDS are therefore important. 

Fever, cardiac murmur and vegetations are not invariably present in patients with infective endocarditis, and blood cultures are indicated in unexplained stroke particularly if there is raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mild anemia, neutrophil leukocytosis or a history of intravenous drug abuse. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be normal, but > 100 X 10 cells/l polymorphs is said to suggest endocarditis, although similar counts have been described in intracerebral hemorrhage and in hemorrhagic transformation of an infarct, but not in ischemic stroke (Powers 1986). 

Most individuals infected with the hepatitis C virus become long-term carriers. Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus affects an estimated 170 million individuals worldwide. Up to one-third of these will progress to cirrhosis with its attendant complications including hepatocellular carcinoma, over a period of 30-40 years. In the western world hepatitis C infection arises mainly from intravenous drug abuse. 

Severe hyperkalemia has been reported in pregnant intravenous drug abusers during prolonged parenteral magnesium sulfate therapy for treatment of toxemia (8). Hypermagnesemia was thought to be responsible. 

Rybak MJ, Lerner SA, Levine DP, Albrecht LM, McNeil PL, Thompson GA, Kenny MT, Yuh L. Teicoplanin pharmacokinetics in intravenous drug abusers being treated for bacterial endocarditis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1991 35(4) 696-700. 

Heroin nephropathy/clinical course Amyloidosis associated with intravenous drug abuse HIV nephropathy and its relationship to heroin nephropathy Acute kidney injury due to drug-induced rhabdomyolysis Cocaine-induced renal disease 598 599 601 603 605... 

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