Ullrich H, Passenberg P, Agelink M W
Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Evangelische Kliniken Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2003 Nov 28;128(48):2534-6. doi: 10.1055/s-2003-44949.
A 43-year-old woman was admitted after a suicide attempt with 1.5 g atenolol. Physical and neurological examination showed no abnormality, but psychiatric examination revealed symptoms of a major depression. Four weeks prior to admission a valsartan-hydrochlorothiazide combination had been added to the antihypertensive medication.
Laboratory tests, electrocardiography, chest-x-ray, electroencephalography and cranial computerised tomography showed no abnormality.
The depressive disorder resolved within ten days after discontinuation of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide without specific treatment. Blood pressure was normal under treatment with metoprolol.
Depressive drug reactions can produce a substantial morbidity. This case of a drug induced affective disorder should heighten the awareness of unusual reactions to valsartan-hydrochlorothiazide therapy.
