Accuneb Description

AccuNeb® (albuterol sulfate) inhalation solution is a sterile, clear, colorless solution of the sulfate salt of racemic albuterol, albuterol sulfate. Albuterol sulfate is a relatively selective beta2 -adrenergic bronchodilator (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY). The chemical name for albuterol sulfate is ?1 [(tert-butylamino) methyl]-4-hydroxy-m-xylene-?, ?'-diol sulfate (2:1) (salt), and its established chemical structure is as follows:

The molecular weight of albuterol sulfate is 576.7 and the empirical formula is (C13 H21 NO3 )2 ?H2 SO4 . Albuterol sulfate is a white crystalline powder, soluble in water and slightly soluble in ethanol. The World Health Organization recommended name for albuterol is salbutamol.

AccuNeb (albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Solution is supplied in two strengths in unit dose vials. Each unit dose vial contains either 0.75 mg of albuterol sulfate (equivalent to 0.63 mg of albuterol) or 1.50 mg of albuterol sulfate (equivalent to 1.25 mg of albuterol) with sodium chloride and sulfuric acid in a 3-mL isotonic, sterile, aqueous solution. Sodium chloride is added to adjust isotonicity of the solution and sulfuric acid is added to adjust pH of the solution to 3.5 (see HOW SUPPLIED).

AccuNeb (albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Solution does not require dilution prior to administration by nebulization. For AccuNeb, like all other nebulized treatments, the amount delivered to the lungs will depend on patient factors, the jet nebulizer utilized, and compressor performance. Using the Pari LC Plus? nebulizer (with face mask or mouthpiece) connected to a Pari PRONEB? compressor, under in vitro conditions, the mean delivered dose from the mouth piece (% nominal dose) was approximately 43% of albuterol (1.25 mg strength) and 39% of albuterol (0.63 mg strength) at a mean flow rate of 3.6 L/min. The mean nebulization time was 15 minutes or less. AccuNeb should be administered from a jet nebulizer at an adequate flow rate, via a mouthpiece or face mask (see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).

Accuneb Indications And Usage

AccuNeb is indicated for the relief of bronchospasm in patients 2 to 12 years of age with asthma (reversible obstructive airway disease).

Accuneb Contraindications

AccuNeb is contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to any of its components.

Accuneb Side Effects

Paradoxical Bronchospasm

As with other inhaled beta-adrenergic agonists, AccuNeb can produce paradoxical bronchospasm, which may be life threatening. If paradoxical bronchospasm occurs, AccuNeb should be discontinued immediately and alternative therapy instituted. It should be noted that paradoxical bronchospasm, when associated with inhaled formulations, frequently occurs with the first use of a new canister or vial.

Use Of Anti-inflammatory Agents

The use of beta-adrenergic bronchodilators alone may not be adequate to control asthma in many patients. Early consideration should be given to adding anti-inflammatory agents (e.g., corticosteroids).

Deterioration Of Asthma

Asthma may deteriorate acutely over a period of hours or chronically over several days or longer. If the patient needs more doses of AccuNeb than usual, this may be a marker of destabilization of asthma and requires reevaluation of the patient and the treatment regimen, giving special consideration of the possible need for anti-inflammatory treatment (e.g., corticosteroids).

Fatalities have been reported in association with excessive use of inhaled sympathomimetic drugs and with the home use of nebulizers. It is, therefore, essential that the physician instruct the patient in the need for further evaluation, if his/her asthma becomes worse.

Cardiovascular Effects

AccuNeb, like other beta-adrenergic agonists, can produce a clinically significant cardiovascular effect in some patients as measured by pulse rate, blood pressure, and/or symptoms. Although such effects are uncommon for AccuNeb at recommended doses, if they occur, the drug may need to be discontinued. In addition, beta-agonists have been reported to produce ECG changes, such as flattening of the T-wave, prolongation of the QTc interval, and ST segment depression. The clinical significance of these findings is unknown. Therefore, AccuNeb like all other sympathomimetic amines, should be used with caution in patients with cardiovascular disorders, especially coronary insufficiency, cardiac arrhythmias, and hypertension.

Immediate Hypersensitivity Reactions

Immediate hypersensitivity reactions may occur after administration of albuterol as demonstrated by rare cases of urticaria, angioedema, rash, bronchospasm, and oropharyngeal edema.

Accuneb Precautions

General

Large doses of intravenous albuterol have been reported to aggravate pre-existing diabetes mellitus and ketoacidosis. As with other beta-agonists, inhaled and intravenous albuterol may produce a significant hypokalemia in some patients, possibly through intracellular shunting, which has the potential to produce adverse cardiovascular effects. The decrease is usually transient, not requiring potassium supplementation.

Information For Patients

The action of AccuNeb may last up to six hours, and therefore it should not be used more frequently than recommended. Do not increase the dose or frequency of medication without consulting your physician. If you find that treatment with AccuNeb becomes less effective for symptomatic relief, your symptoms become worse, and/or you need to use the product more frequently than usual, you should seek medical attention immediately. All asthma medication should only be used under the supervision and direction of a physician. Common effects with medications such as AccuNeb include palpitations, chest pain, rapid heart rate, tremor, or nervousness.

If you are pregnant or nursing, contact your physician about the use of AccuNeb. Effective and safe use of AccuNeb includes an understanding of the way it should be administered.

If the solution in the vial changes color or becomes cloudy, you should not use it.

The drug compatibility (physical and chemical), clinical efficacy, and safety of AccuNeb solution, when mixed with other drugs in a nebulizer, has not been established.

See illustrated Patient's Instructions for Use.

Drug Interactions

Other short-acting sympathomimetic aerosol bronchodilators or epinephrine should not be used concomitantly with AccuNeb.

AccuNeb should be administered with extreme caution to patients being treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors or tricyclic antidepressants or within 2 weeks of discontinuation of such agents, since the action of albuterol on the vascular system may be potentiated.

Beta-receptor blocking agents not only block the pulmonary effect of beta-agonists, such as AccuNeb, but may produce severe bronchospasm in asthmatic patients. Therefore, patients with asthma should not normally be treated with beta-blockers. However, under certain circumstances (e.g., prophylaxis after myocardial infarction), there may be no acceptable alternatives to the use of beta-adrenergic blocking agents in patients with asthma. In this setting, cardioselective beta-blockers should be considered, although they should be administered with caution.

The ECG changes and/or hypokalemia that may result from the administration of non-potassium sparing diuretics (such as loop or thiazide diuretics) can be acutely worsened by beta-agonists, especially when the dose of the beta-agonist is exceeded. Although the clinical significance of these effects is unknown, caution is advised in the co-administration of beta-agonists with non-potassium sparing diuretics.

Mean decreases of 16% to 22% in serum digoxin levels were demonstrated after single dose intravenous and oral administration of albuterol, respectively, to normal volunteers who had received digoxin for 10 days. The clinical significance of these findings for patients with obstructive airway disease who are receiving albuterol and digoxin on a chronic basis is unclear. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to carefully evaluate the serum digoxin levels in patients who are currently receiving digoxin and albuterol.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, and Impairment Of Fertility

In a 2-year study in Sprague-Dawley rats, albuterol sulfate caused a significant dose-related increase in the incidence of benign leiomyomas of the mesovarium and above dietary doses of 2 mg/kg (approximately equivalent to the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose for AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). In another study, this effect was blocked by the co-administration of propranolol, a non-selective beta-adrenergic antagonist.

In an 18-month study in CD-1 mice, albuterol sulfate showed no evidence of tumorigenicity at dietary doses up to 500 mg/kg (approximately 140 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). In a 22-month study in Golden hamsters, albuterol sulfate showed no evidence of tumorigenicity at dietary doses up to 50 mg/kg (approximately 20 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis).

Albuterol sulfate was not mutagenic in the Ames test or a mutation test in yeast. Albuterol sulfate was not clastogenic in a human peripheral lymphocyte assay or in an AH1 strain mouse micronucleus assay.

Reproduction studies in rats demonstrated no evidence of impaired fertility at oral doses of albuterol sulfate up to 50 mg/kg (approximately 30 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis).

Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects

Pregnancy Category C

Albuterol has been shown to be teratogenic in mice. A study in CD-1 mice given albuterol subcutaneously showed cleft palate formation in 5 of 111 (4.5%) fetuses at 0.25 mg/kg (less than the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis) and cleft palate formation in 10 of 108 (9.3%) fetuses at 2.5 mg/kg (approximately equal to the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). The drug did not induce cleft palate formation when administered subcutaneously at a dose of 0.025 mg/kg (less than the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). Cleft palate formation also occurred in 23 of 72 (30.5%) fetuses from females treated subcutaneously with 2.5 mg/kg isoproterenol (positive control). A reproduction study in Stride rabbits revealed cranioschisis in 7 of 19 (37%) fetuses when albuterol sulfate was administered orally at 50 mg/kg (approximately 60 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis).

A study in which pregnant rats were dosed with radiolabelled albuterol sulfate demonstrated that drug-related material was transferred from the maternal circulation to the fetus.

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of the use of albuterol sulfate in pregnant women. Albuterol should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

During worldwide marketing experience, various congenital anomalies, including cleft palate and limb defects, have been reported in the offspring of patients being treated with albuterol. Some of the mothers were taking multiple medications during their pregnancies. Because no consistent pattern of defects can be discerned, a relationship between albuterol use and congenital anomalies has not been established.

Labor and Delivery

Oral albuterol has been shown to delay pre-term labor in some reports. There are presently no well-controlled studies that demonstrate that it will stop pre-term labor or prevent labor at term. Because of the potential for beta agonist interference with uterine contractility, use of AccuNeb for relief of bronchospasm during labor should be restricted to those patients in whom the benefits clearly outweigh the risk.

Albuterol has not been approved for the management of pre-term labor. The benefit:risk ratio when albuterol is administered for tocolysis has not been established. Serious adverse reactions, including pulmonary edema, have been reported following administration of albuterol to women in labor.

Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because of the potential for tumorigenicity shown for albuterol in some animal studies, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.

Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness of AccuNeb 1.25 mg and 0.63 mg have been established in pediatric patients between the ages of 2 and 12 years. The use of AccuNeb in these age groups is supported by evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies of AccuNeb in children age 6 to 12 years and published reports of albuterol sulfate trials in pediatric patients 3 years of age and older. The safety and effectiveness of AccuNeb in children below 2 years of age have not been established.

Accuneb Overdosage

The expected symptoms with overdosage are those of excessive beta-adrenergic stimulation and/or occurrence or exaggeration of symptoms such as seizures, angina, hypertension or hypotension, tachycardia with rates up to 200 beats per minute, arrhythmias, nervousness, headache, tremor, dry mouth, palpitation, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, malaise, insomnia, and exaggeration of the pharmacological effects listed in ADVERSE REACTIONS. Hypokalemia may also occur. As with all sympathomimetic aerosol medications, cardiac arrest and even death may be associated with abuse of AccuNeb. Treatment consists of discontinuation of AccuNeb together with appropriate symptomatic therapy. The judicious use of a cardioselective beta-receptor blocker may be considered, bearing in mind that such medication can produce bronchospasm. There is insufficient evidence to determine if dialysis is beneficial for overdosage of AccuNeb.

The oral median lethal dose of albuterol sulfate in mice is greater than 2000 mg/kg (approximately 580 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). The subcutaneous median lethal dose of albuterol sulfate in mature rats and small young rats is approximately 450 mg/kg and 2000 mg/kg, respectively (approximately 260 and 1200 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of AccuNeb on a mg/m2 basis). The inhalation median lethal dose has not been determined in animals.

Accuneb Information For Patients

The action of AccuNeb may last up to six hours, and therefore it should not be used more frequently than recommended. Do not increase the dose or frequency of medication without consulting your physician. If you find that treatment with AccuNeb becomes less effective for symptomatic relief, your symptoms become worse, and/or you need to use the product more frequently than usual, you should seek medical attention immediately. All asthma medication should only be used under the supervision and direction of a physician. Common effects with medications such as AccuNeb include palpitations, chest pain, rapid heart rate, tremor, or nervousness.

If you are pregnant or nursing, contact your physician about the use of AccuNeb. Effective and safe use of AccuNeb includes an understanding of the way it should be administered.

If the solution in the vial changes color or becomes cloudy, you should not use it.

The drug compatibility (physical and chemical), clinical efficacy, and safety of AccuNeb solution, when mixed with other drugs in a nebulizer, has not been established.

See illustrated Patient's Instructions for Use.