Dutch Medicines Days: Recognition for Research on Prescribing Cascades

During the Dutch Medicines Days in Leiden, Rogier van der Zanden, Mariëlle Slikkerveer, and Yannick Nielen represented our department with both poster presentations and an oral presentation.

The research by Yannick, titled “The incidence of diuretic associated sequential prescribing cascades”, used real-world data to demonstrate that prescribing cascades still occur frequently and often go unnoticed in clinical practice. This important topic resonated strongly with colleagues in the field. The abstract, written by Kjell van der Walle, was awarded a €150 prize for being selected for oral presentation.

The poster by Mariëlle and Rogier, titled “Therapeutic drug monitoring of lacosamide as add-on treatment in a neonate with therapy-resistant epilepsy due to SCN2A mutation”, presents a case report of a neonate who was started on lacosamide. Due to limited knowledge about the use of lacosamide in neonates, multiple plasma levels were measured during treatment. Achieving adequate levels required higher doses than initially expected. No side effects were observed. These findings may contribute to improved treatment strategies for other neonates with therapy-resistant epilepsy.