FATAL INTOXICATION WITH AMLODIPINE

Although poisoning with calcium channel blacking agents is frequent, t o our knowledge no cases involving amlodipine have been published. We describe here a care of amlodipine intoxication, in which protracted h ypotension did not respond to vasopressor therapy alone. After the add ition of continuous calcium chloride and glucagon infusion, blood pres sure was restored and vasopressor therapy could be tapered off substan tially. When calcium and glucagon were interrupted because of severe h ypercalcemia and hyperglycemia, the patient developed irreversible hyp otension and died. Either glucagon or calcium or both, and to some ext ent vasopressors, seem to have constituted effective treatment of hypo tension in this care.