Maryam Vahabzadeh
1, Ali Eshraghi
2, Mina Akbari-Rad
3*, Abdollah Firoozi
4, Alireza Esmaeili
5, Yaghoub Ahrari
61 Medical Toxicology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Cardiology Department of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
3 Department of Internal Medicine, Gheam Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
4 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
5 Department of Emergency Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
6 Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
Hydralazine is an FDA-approved antihypertensive agent which has been utilized for years either alone or in combination with
other medications especially the beta-blockers. Hydralazine works as a direct-acting vasodilator, thereby exerting a decrease in
vascular resistance and increase in intravascular volume. When overdosed, hydralazine applies its toxic effects by extending its
pharmacological action, which produces hypotension, syncope, tachycardia, and nausea. However, studies and case reports
of acute hydralazine toxicity and its effects on electrocardiographic changes are rare, and most of the medical literature have
only highlighted its immunological side effects. In this report, we are presenting a case of acute hydralazine overdose in a
young woman who ended up in CCU due to remarkably abnormal electrocardiogram and unstable hemodynamics followed by
myocardial infarction.