The use of morphologic tissue examinations as novel technique for estimation of drug adverse reactions in hospitalized patients.

Morphologic evaluation of tissue specimens from a hospital population was used to identify and classify adverse reactions to drugs. With the use of this novel technique, the incidence of adverse tissue reactions was found to be 3.6% out of which 1.5% were found to be definitely caused by a specific pharmacological agent. Adverse tissue reactions were both sex- and age-related occurring more often in women and more frequently between the ages of 51-60 years. Although adverse tissue reactions were noted less frequently in males, a definite causative agent was identified in over 50% of males in which a tissue reaction was observed. Endometrium and liver were the predominant tissues altered morphologically in our hospital population. Estrogenic preparations and alcohol were found to be most frequently implicated in the observed adverse tissue reactions. In comparison to the observation of symptoms associated with drug use, our study provides an alternate means of relating an adverse reaction to pharmacological agent employed in that subjective bias can successfully be removed. Although the present system described appears to be more rigorous in identification of adverse reactions, evidence indicates that tissue adverse reaction technique may be advantageous in determination of an unwanted response in patients under 60 years of age. It is hoped that the tissue adverse reaction evaluation may provide a more accurate prediction of possible adverse effects and perhaps may be a more reliable, sensitive system for estimation of adverse effects in hospitalized patients.