title: [Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM): definitions--vocabulary and concepts].
abstract: The French group 'Suivi Therapeutique Pharmacologique' (STP) has tried to define the best translation of the English term Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM). The TDM concept was initiated with the development of Pharmacokinetics and Analytical Chemistry. At first, the aim was the adaptation to target concentrations of efficacy and toxicity. Then, monitoring became more individualized and took into account the patient, the indication and the coprescriptions. TDM participated in the improvement of knowledge of actors (physicians and biologists), the tools and the drugs concerned. The most recent developments have been the population approach, the Target Concentration Intervention (TCI) and the Randomised Concentration Controlled Trials (RCCT). TDM today is an individualized intervention that aims to achieve the best benefit/risk ratio, in the context of the patient and his/her entire environment.
authors.affiliation: Service de Pharmacologie, Hôpital européen Georges Pompidou, 20 rue Leblanc, 75908 Paris, France.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Billaud
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D010599:Pharmacokinetics; D009626:Terminology as Topic