Life-threatening hyperkalemia after intravenous labetolol injection for hypertensive emergency in a hemodialysis patient

Intravenous labetolol, a nonselective alpha- and beta -blocking drug, is co mmonly used to treat severe hypertension. Nonselective beta -blockers can c ause hyperkalemia, especially in patients with renal failure. One series re ported 3 renal transplant patients who had hyperkalemia after labetolol inf usion, but none of these patients developed any serious complication. We re port a case of life-threatening hyperkalemia (serum [K+] 9.9 mEq/l) with ve ntricular tachycardia and hypotension in a patient on maintenance hemodialy sis who received labetolol for a hypertensive emergency. Physicians should be aware of this potentially lethal complication, which is easily preventab le. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.