[The European pharmacovigilance: regulatory aspects]

ESTABLISHMENT: The European pharmacovigilance system has been operating since 1995 when the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products as well as two new European registration procedures were established.

STRUCTURE

This system is very similar to the French organization and is based on a decentralized collection and validation of safety data by member states and a centralized evaluation and decision making process at the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products performed by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) and its Pharmacovigilance Working Party. A EUROPEAN SYSTEM: In light of the experience gained, the European pharmacovigilance system moved to an interactive system which relies on a close cooperation between member states ensuring the common evaluation and management of safety concerns.

The long-term clinical outcome of myasthenia gravis in patients with thymoma

We compared 42 myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with thymoma with 42 generalized MG patients without thymoma using a modified Osserman classification. The mean Osserman grades at diagnosis, 6 months, and 5 and 10 years post-thymectomy did not differ between groups. Our results indicate that thymoma is not a negative determinant for the long-term clinical outcome of MG.

Pilot trial of immunoglobulin versus plasma exchange in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome

We compared intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange (PLEX) in the treatment of 50 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Standard outcome measures did not differ for the two groups. Sixty-one percent of the PLEX-treated group and 69% of the IVIG-treated group improved by one disability grade at 1 month. The complication rate was higher in the PLEX-treated group. We conclude that the efficacy of IVIG in the treatment of GBS is comparable with that of PLEX and that it can be used safely, although we had a small number of patients. We did not observe a higher relapse rate with IVIG. The usefulness of combination therapy is unknown at this time.