Potassium Thiocyanate in the Treatment of Hypertension *

Ever since Pauli' first recommended thiocyanates for the treatment of hypertension almost forty years ago, the therapeutic value of these drugs has been a subject of controversy. Interest apparently declined after Ayman's pronouncement,' in 1931, that thiocyanates lacked dinical usefulness because there appeared to be an insufficient margin of safety between the hypotensive and the toxic doses. Recently Barker2 applied a method for the determination of cyanates in blood and again revived interest in the thiocyanates by claiming that their effective therapeutic range lay in a blood serum content of from 8 to 12 mg. per cent of thiocyanate, while intoxication was not encountered until a serum level of 15 to 30 mg. had been reached. By means of this improved control over the administration of the drug, Barker avoided the hazards of intoxication and achieved gratifying symptomatic results and significant amelioration of hypertension in the majority of his patients. The present study was stimulated by Barker's encouraging experience with his controlled method of treatment in a disease which has long eluded our therapeutic efforts.