Arterial Hyper- and Hypotension associated with psychiatric medications: a risk assessment based on the summaries of product characteristics (SmPCs)

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Introduction Psychiatric medications are well-known triggers of clinically relevant blood pressure changes. Therefore, we aimed at creating ranking lists for their risk of causing arterial hyper- or hypotension. Methods We analyzed 784 Summaries of Product characteristics (SmPCs, available online from "Rote Liste" or "Gelbe Liste" websites) from 105 psychiatric medications registered in adult psychiatry in Germany and extracted the standardized reported risks of increasing or decreasing arterial blood pressure. Results According to the SmPCs, atomoxetine had the highest risk of arterial hypertension ("very frequent", > 10 %), and another 15 substances followed in the category "frequent" (> 1 %): duloxetine, milnacipran, venlafaxine, bupropion, citalopram, tranylcypromine (particularly with certain diets), reboxetine, methylphenidate, clozapine, paliperidone, risperidone, buprenorphine+naloxone, memantine, galantamine, and rivastigmine. Conversely, 7 substances, namely amitriptyline, tranylcypromine, chlorprothixen, flupentixol, levomepromazine, olanzapine and trimipramine had the highest reported risk of low blood pressure ("very frequent"), and another 25 substances had the risk "frequent". No risk of hypertension or hypotension was documented for many other substances. Incidentally, we observed that the reported effects on blood pressure for single substances (e. g. citalopram) markedly differed between the SmPCs from different manufacturers, rendering a clear risk assessment impossible for many medications. Discussion According to the German SmPc, many psychiatric medications are associated with the risk of arterial hypertension and, even more so, hypotension. We hardly observed substance group effects, such as high blood pressure with noradrenergic antidepressants. Commonly used tables summarising secondary causes of arterial hypertension should be revised in terms of psychiatric medications. Our rank orders ofrisk may aid choosing the best psychiatric medications in patients with known hypertension or at risk for syncope, as well as when blood pressure changes occur under psychiatric pharmacotherapy. A definitive risk assessment however requires controlled studies.