If you’re ever admitted to hospital with heart failure, the chances are that your specialist will use the drug perindopril, a long acting angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI). It has become the drug of choice because it does not seem to af
But the experiences at a Danish hospital may cause a rethink on what has become routine practice. Doctors at the Skejby University Hospital in Aarthus gave the drug to a 61 year old man who had been complaining of mild chest pain.
His blood pressure levels fell so low that he suffered brain damage, which affected his vision.
Dr Jens Bagger at the hospital believes the drug should not be given out so routinely (Lancet, 1997; 349: 1671-2).