[Pharmacokinetics and thyrotoxicity of the sodium nitroprusside metabolite thiocyanate (author's transl)]

Thiocyanate (SCN) serum levels were measured in relation to renal function and SCN-induced changes in thyroid function in 17 patients treated with sodium nitroprusside. SCN serum levels rose linearly, dose-dependent, after the distribution phase. If there was creatinine retention the rise was much steeper. Delayed SCN elimination in renal failure, previously shown experimentally, was also demonstrated clinically. Suppression of thyroid function, to a not precisely predictable extent, is likely to occur at a SCN serum level from 18 mg/l upward.