CHANGES IN BLOOD PRESSURE WITH ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY IN A PATIENT RECEIVING CHLORPROMAZINE HYDROCHLORIDE (THORAZINE)
DANIEL M. WEISS M. D.1
1 Assistant Chief, Closed Ward Section, Neuropsychiatric Service, V. A. Hospital, Boston, and instructor in psychiatry, Tufts Medical School, Boston, Mass.
A case is presented which did not respond to the administration of chlorpromazine hydrochloride in the level of 450 mgm daily, but instead seemed to become more regressed and hyperactive.
Electroshock therapy was given as a lifesaving measure while the patient was still receiving chlorpromazine hydrochloride in large doses.
A marked fall in blood pressure occurred immediately following the treatment, and a return to the baseline level was seen within 30 minutes. The degree of drop in blood pressure was greater when larger doses of the drug had been received by the patient. This fall in pressure was not present in subsequent treatments, when the patient was not receiving chlorpromazine hydrochloride.
It is felt therefore that the hypotensive action of chlorpromazine hydrochloride is intensified by electroshock therapy. Careful search of the literature has not disclosed a similar case.
