Dapsone- and primaquine-induced methemoglobinemia in HIV-infected individuals
Article Abstract:
The antibiotics dapsone and primaquine can be a more dangerous combination in the formation of methemoglobinemia in HIV patients than either drug alone. Methemoglobinemia, the condition in which red blood cells do not release oxygen from the blood, is caused by the use of the bacteriostatic drug dapsone or by the antimalarial primaquine. Both drugs are used in the treatment of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in HIV patients. Five HIV-infected males developed serious cases of methemoglobinemia after injections with the drugs, alone or in combination. Because of the drug action of dapsone, it can produce significant methemoglobinemia if primaquine is given before dapsone has cleared the patient's system.
Publication Name: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology
Subject: Health
ISSN: 1077-9450
Year: 1996
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When patients become cyanotic: acquired methemoglobinemia
Article Abstract:
Local anesthetics in dentistry can potentially cause methemoglobinemia when given in large doses, or in standard doses to susceptible patients. Methemoglobinemia is the accumulation of methemoglobin -- an oxidized form of hemoglobin -- in the blood. Methemoglobin does not adequately deliver oxygen, and patients may become cyanotic (blue) as their blood oxygen level falls. Cyanotic patients who have been given local anesthetics, such as prilocaine or benzocaine, and do not respond to oxygen therapy should receive emergency treatment with methylene blue to reverse methemoglobinemia.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Dental Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0002-8177
Year: 1999
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