Verapamil disposition in liver disease and intensive‐care patients: Kinetics, clearance, and apparent blood flow relationships

Verapamil kinetics have been determined in liver disease (mainly in cirrhotic patients), in intensive‐care patients, and in healthy control subjects. Areas under the concentration‐time curves (AUCs) after intravenous 5‐mg and oral 80‐mg doses were used to calculate systemic blood clearance, intrinsic blood clearance, and bioavailability of verapamil in patients and to calculate apparent hepatic blood flow. Intravenous data showed that verapamil clearance was reduced in all patients with liver disease (x̄ = −66%), but intensive‐care patients were a more heterogenous group in which some patients had increases (five patients; x̄ = +72%) and others had decreases (two patients; x̄ = −57%) in verapamil clearance. The changes in clearance corresponded to changes in the half‐time for the β‐phase (t½β). Verapamil bioavailability is low, and in the intensive‐care patients and healthy subjects examined it ranged from 13% to 21%. There was considerable variation in liver disease subjects, in whom verapamil bioavailability ranged from 3.8% to 64%. The systemic clearance of verapamil correlated linearly with calculated apparent hepatic blood flow (r = 0.99; regression coefficient = 0.87). In the case of one liver patient the kinetic results could be used to confirm the clinical diagnosis of hepatic shunts. It is concluded that there are clinically significant changes in verapamil elimination in liver disease and in intensive‐care patients. For patients with normal hepatic vascular anatomy, these changes can be explained in terms of differences in hepatic blood flow. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1981) 29, 27–34; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1981.5