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In a large case-control study in Korea, investigators tried to assess the risk for intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage associated with exposure to phenylpropanolamine (PPA) in OTC cold remedies. They screened 2710 hemorrhage cases, of which they excluded 1714 because the hemorrhage-induced deficit prevented assessment and another 56 for lack of valid matched controls. They paired each of the remaining 940 cases with one control from the community and one from hospital inpatients.
There were 16 patients with hemorrhage that occurred within 14 days after PPA exposure (cases) and 14 people exposed to PPA without subsequent hemorrhage (controls). Among women (9 cases, 6 controls), the adjusted odds ratio for hemorrhage after PPA use was 3.8…