A Mechanism of Sudden Death in Chlorpromazine Therapy
ROBERT CANCRO M.D., MED. D. SC.1, and
RUSSELL WILDER M.D., PH.D.2
1 Professor, department of psychiatry, University of Connecticut, 2 Holcomb St., Hartford, Conn. 06112
2 Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kans.
There has been an increasing number of sudden deaths in psychotic patients taking phenothiazines. The authors present a case report that they believe offers some insight into why such deaths occur. They feel that the combination of vasodilatation with the hypotensive effects of phenothiazines might explain some of the unexpected deaths.
