INDIVIDUAL THEOPHYLLINE DOSING BASED ON BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS

The role of bioelectrical impedance (BI) analysis in determining slow- release theophylline dosage was evaluated in fifteen healthy subjects given a standard 200 mg dose. Reactance and l/resistance were identifi ed as the most significant predictors of pre-dose, steady-state theoph ylline concentrations (C(ss,pre)). Compared with doses based on body w eight (8.8 mg kg-1 day-1), theophylline doses determined by BI analysi s (9.6 +/- 2.4 mg kg-1 day-1) resulted in less biased (mean prediction error = 0.6 vs 1.4) though slightly less precise (mean squared error = 7.1 vs 6.3) C(ss,pre) values. These differences were statistically i nsignificant (P > 0.05).