Reactions 739 - 20 Feb 1999

★Quinapril

First report of pancreatitis in an elderly patient:case report

An 83-year-old woman developed pancreatitis after startingquinapril 30 mg/day for the treatment of hypertension. Herother medications at the time included aspirin, metoprolol,nitroglycerin [glyceryl trinitrate] and glipizide.

The woman was hospitalised with epigastric and left upperquadrant abdominal pain 11 days after starting quinapriltherapy. Investigations revealed elevated serum amylase andlipase levels and an elevated WBC count.

Quinapril-induced pancreatitis was suspected, so the agentwas discontinued. Within 3 days, the woman’s WBC count andlipase and amylase levels had normalised, and her abdominalpain had resolved. She began losartan potassium therapy forhypertension. No further episodes of pancreatitis occurredduring a 5-month follow-up period.

Author comment: ‘Without the proof of recurrentpancreatitis upon rechallenge, we can only suggest a possibleassociation between quinapril and pancreatitis in our patient.’Arjomand H, et al. Quinapril and pancreatitis. American Journal ofGastroenterology 94: 290-291, Jan 1999 - USA 800739492

» Editorial comment: A search of AdisBase and Medline didnot reveal any previous case reports of pancreatitis associatedwith quinapril therapy.

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Reactions 20 Feb 1999 No. 7390114-9954/10/0739-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved