Open AccessOpipramol Overdose Presented with Wide‐Complex Tachycardia to the Emergency Department
Author(s) -
Sogut O,
Yalcin S,
Kaya H,
Gokdemir MT,
Sezen Y
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
hong kong journal of emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 2309-5407
pISSN - 1024-9079
DOI - 10.1177/102490791201900207
Subject(s) - medicine , anticholinergic , emergency department , pharmacology , muscarinic acetylcholine receptor , anesthesia , psychiatry , receptor
Opipramol is an antidepressant and anxiolytic drug similar in structure to tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) but it is primarily used for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders. Unlike many TCAs, opipramol has no reuptake‐inhibiting properties. Opipramol acts as a high affinity sigma receptor agonist. Opipramol acts as a low to moderate affinity antagonist for the dopamine‐2 (D2), 5‐hydroxtryptamine (5‐HT2), histamine 1 (H1), histamine 2 (H2), and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors accounting for its antihistamine effects, and muscarinic anticholinergic properties. Here, we report a rare case of opipramol overdose case involving a 18‐year‐old woman, presenting to our emergency department (ED) with loss of consciousness and wide‐complex tachycardia. A firm diagnosis of opipramol overdose was made on the basis of clinical, laboratory and electrocardiogram findings.