Attenuation of electroconvulsive therapy induced hypertension with sublingual nifedipine

Five patients known to be previously hypertensive but not currently receiving anti-hypertensive medications were studied for a total of twenty-six administrations of electroconvulsive therapy. Patients randomly received sublingual nifedipine 10 mg, 20 minutes prior to half of their treatments, and for the remaining treatments acted as their own controls. The use of nifedipine resulted in significant attenuation of the blood pressure response to therapy. Systolic pressure increase was 24 mmHg (SD 14) versus 62 mmHg (SD 24) (P less than 0.01). There was no difference in heart rate between the two groups. It is concluded that nifedipine reduces the pressor response to electroconvulsive therapy in individuals with a history of hypertension.