FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 337:1772-1776 December 11, 1997 Number 24 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited Related Article by Curfman, G. D. Related Article by Abenhaim, L. Related Article by Connolly, H. M. PubMed Citation

To the Editor: Nineteen of the 24 patients described by Connolly et al. (Aug. 28 issue)¹ in the primary report linking fenfluramine and phentermine with cardiac valvular abnormalities were identified in Fargo, North Dakota, a city with only 74,111 residents in 1990.² Twelve of the Fargo cases, and perhaps the association itself, were initially identified by an astute echocardiographic sonographer. This relation had not been discovered previously despite the fact that fenfluramine has been approved since 1973 and that 18 million prescriptions for these drugs were filled in 1996 alone.¹ Diagnosis of a cardiac abnormality in 18 of the 24 . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Elangbam, C. S., Lightfoot, R. M., Yoon, L. W., Creech, D. R., Geske, R. S., Crumbley, C. W., Gates, L. D., Wall, H. G. (2005). 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5HT) Receptors in the Heart Valves of Cynomolgus Monkeys and Sprague-Dawley Rats. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 53: 671-677 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Elangbam, C. S., Colman, K. A., Lightfoot, R. M., Tyler, R. D., Wall, H. G. (2002). Endocardial Myxomatous Change in Harlan Sprague-Dawley Rats (Hsd:S--D) and CD-1 Mice: Its Microscopic Resemblance to Drug-Induced Valvulopathy in Humans. Toxicol Pathol 30: 483-491 [Abstract]  
• Gardin, J. M., Schumacher, D., Constantine, G., Davis, K. D., Leung, C., Reid, C. L. (2000). Valvular Abnormalities and Cardiovascular Status Following Exposure to Dexfenfluramine or Phentermine/Fenfluramine. JAMA 283: 1703-1709 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pollick, C., Fishman, A. P. (1999). Aminorex to Fen/Phen: An Epidemic Foretold • Response. Circulation 100 : e147-e147 [Full Text]  
• Weissman, N. J., Tighe, J. F. Jr., Gottdiener, J. S., Gwynne, J. T. (1999). Prevalence of valvular-regurgitation associated with dexfenfluramine three to five months after discontinuation of treatment. J Am Coll Cardiol 34: 2088-2095 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Weissman, N. J., Tighe, J. F., Gottdiener, J. S., Gwynne, J. T., The Sustained-Release Dexfenfluramine Study Group, (1998). An Assessment of Heart-Valve Abnormalities in Obese Patients Taking Dexfenfluramine, Sustained-Release Dexfenfluramine, or Placebo. NEJM 339: 725-732 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Griffen, L., Anchors, M. (1998). The "Phen-Pro" Diet Drug Combination Is Not Associated With Valvular Heart Disease. Arch Intern Med 158: 1278-1279 [Full Text]