Irreversible Coma, Ergotamine, and Ritonavir

Ergotism related to concurrent administration of ergotamine tartrate and ritonavir in an AIDS patient.

Ritonavir is a potent protease inhibitor recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infecton. Its mechanism of action is well-known, but its pharmacokinetics are still uncertain. Ritonavir interacts with many drugs due to its hepatic metabolism (1, 5). We report...

Use of Lopinavir/ritonavir Associated with Ergotamine Resulting in Foot Amputation: Brief Communication

A 32-year-old female, was diagnosed in 2004 with a C1 HIV1 infection, using zidovudine/lamivudine 300/150 mg BID and lopinavir/ritonavir 400/100 mg BID, in addition to prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 800/160 mg QD, but no prophylaxis with macrolide antibiotics. The patient presented with a severe headache and was prescribed two capsules of the anti-migraine drug Ormigrein™, which...

Ergotamine absorption and toxicity.

Adverse reactions to ergotamine were noted in 16 out of 41 studies in which therapeutic doses of the drug were given to normal, healthy volunteers. In 17 of the studies 0.25 mg ergotamine was given by injection, 6 i.v. and 11 i.m., in 20 studies 2 mg ergotamine was given by mouth, and 4 subjects received 2 mg ergotamine by suppository. Plasma and urinary ergotamine was measured by radio-immunoa...

Ergotamine and cerebral blood flow.

We measured the cerebral blood flow (CBF) of 16 patients by the xenon-133 intracarotid method before and after the intramuscular injection of ergotamine tartrate. The regional and hemispheric CBF was unaltered, even in 3 migraneurs in who ergotamine relieved the headache. Ergotamine tartrate in therapeutic doses has no effect on the cerebral circulation.

Ergotamine and Apparent Coronary Insufficiency.