Adverse drug reactions procainamide

ADMINISTERING PROCAINAMIDE Adverse reactions with procainamide therapy include nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting. Small meals eaten frequently may be better tolerated than three full meals. Administering the drug with meals may decrease gastrointestinal effects. 

The answer is e. (Hardman, pp 858-874.) Because verapamil, a Ca channel blocker, has a selective depressing action on AV nodal tissue, it is an ideal drug for both immediate and prophylactic therapy of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Nifedipine, another Ca channel blocker, has little effect on SAT Lidocaine and adenosine are parenteral drugs with short ha If-lives and, thus, are not suitable for prophylactic therapy. Procainamide is more suitable for ventricular arrhythmias and has the potential for serious adverse reactions with long-term use. 

Antiarrhythmic therapy carries with it a number of risks. In some cases, the risk of an adverse reaction is clearly related to high dosages or plasma concentrations. Examples include lidocaine-induced tremor or quinidine-induced cinchonism. In other cases, adverse reactions are unrelated to high plasma concentrations (eg, procainamide-induced agranulocytosis). For many serious adverse reactions to antiarrhythmic drugs, the combination of drug therapy and the underlying heart disease appears important. 

For example, it has been suggested that the adverse reactions caused by a number of drugs such as isoniazid, procainamide, hydralazine could be due to metabolic activation by myeloperoxidase in neutrophils. Thus neutrophils will metabolize procainamide (Fig. 4.38) to a hydroxylamine metabolite. In the presence of chloride ion, myeloperoxidase will produce hypochlorous acid, a strong oxidizing agent, which may be responsible for metabolic activation and toxicity. One of the products is N-chloroprocainamide (see also sect. "Hydralazine," chap. 7). 

---