Theophylline and Serum Electrolytes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To the editor: In the June issue Kearny and coworkers (1) describe a patient with severe hypokalemia who had plasma theophylline levels far in the toxic range. Their animal model also showed a significant fall in plasma potassium levels at theophylline levels above 40 mg/L. We, however, have observed that theophylline at plasma levels within the therapeutic range of 10 to 20 mg/L can cause a significant drop in plasma potassium levels in humans. Theophylline, 6 to 7 mg/kg body weight, was given intravenously in 20 minutes to seven patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They had not used theophylline

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: