Metronidazole, sold under the brand name Flagyl among others, is an antibiotic and antiprotozoal medication. It is used either alone or with other antibiotics to treat pelvic inflammatory disease, endocarditis, and bacterial vaginosis. It is effective for dracunculiasis, giardiasis, trichomoniasis, and amebiasis. It is an option for a first episode of mild-to-moderate Clostridium difficile colitis if vancomycin or fidaxomicin is unavailable. Metronidazole is available by mouth, as a cream, and by injection into a vein.Common side effects include nausea, a metallic taste, loss of appetite, and headaches. Occasionally seizures or allergies to the medication may occur. Some state that metronidazole should not be used in early pregnancy, while others state doses for trichomoniasis are safe. Metronidazole is generally considered compatible with breastfeeding.Metronidazole began to be commercially used in 1960 in France. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. It is available in most areas of the world. In 2019, it was the 138th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 4 million prescriptions. Medical uses
Metronidazole is primarily used to treat: bacterial vaginosis, pelvic inflammatory disease (along with other antibacterials like ceftriaxone), pseudomembranous colitis, aspiration pneumonia, rosacea (topical), fungating wounds (topical), intra-abdominal infections, lung abscess, periodontitis, amoebiasis, oral infections, giardiasis, trichomoniasis, and infections caused by susceptible anaerobic organisms such as Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, Clostridium, Peptostreptococcus, and Prevotella species.
An estimated 300,000 Americans have AVMs, of whom 12% (approximately 36,000) will exhibit symptoms of greatly varying severity. History
Luschka (1820–1875) and Virchow (1821–1902) first described arteriovenous malformations in the mid-1800s. Olivecrona (1891–1980) performed the first surgical excision of an intracranial AVM in 1932. Society and culture
Notable cases
Indonesian actress Egidia Savitri died from complications of AVM on November 29, 2013. Phoenix Suns point guard AJ Price nearly died from AVM in 2004 while a student at the University of Connecticut. On December 13, 2006, Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota was diagnosed with AVM and treated at George Washington University Hospital. On August 3, 2011, Mike Patterson of the Philadelphia Eagles collapsed on the field and had a seizure during a practice, leading to him being diagnosed with AVM. Actor Ricardo Montalbán was born with spinal AVM. During the filming of the 1951 film Across the Wide Missouri, Montalbán was thrown from his horse, knocked unconscious, and trampled by another horse which aggravated his AVM and resulted in a painful back injury that never healed. The pain increased as he aged, and in 1993, Montalbán underwent 9+1⁄2 hours of spinal surgery which left him paralyzed below the waist and using a wheelchair.