#5
ANSWER E.
Adenosine has an excellent safety profile and is often the drug of choice to treat hemodynamically stable patients with a narrow complex paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. It has an ultra-short half life (<10 secs) and lacks the vaso- and myocardial depressant effects of some other AV nodal agents. Although it produces side effects (flushing, dyspnea, and chest pain), they are transient. Adenosine has several drug interactions. Its effects are antagonized by the methylxanthines (theophylline, caffeine) since methylxanthines prevent binding of adenosine at receptor sites. Therefore large doses of adenosine may be required in the presence of methylxanthines.
Dipyridamole (D), carbamazepine (B), and diazepam (C) potentiate the effects of adenosine therefore smaller doses (or an alternative agent) should be used with these medications. There is no interaction with aspirin (A) that requires a dosing change in adenosine.
Refs
Yealy DM, Delbridge TR: Dysrhythmias, in Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, et al (eds): Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice, ed 7. St. Louis, Mosby, Inc., 2010, (Ch) 77:p 994
Parsons WJ, Stiles GL. Methylxanthines as Adenosine Receptor Antagonists. Ann Inn Med. 1985;103(4):643
4 Comments
Thank you for putting together the questions for the mini board review. I find them very helpful!
Good review….but alot of medical info, very specific…not known when you are out for years in practice.
Thanks for your effort. Nice to review uncommon diseases to keep us up to speed. It is amazing how many diseases, pathogens etc… have had their names changed : Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA) (formerly referred to as Wegener’s granulomatosis).
Excellent review questions. Please keep them coming in future issues!