Anaphylactoid and Possibly Related Reactions
Presumably because angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors affect the metabolism of eicosanoids and polypeptides, including endogenous bradykinin, patients receiving ACE inhibitors, including MAVIK, may be subject to a variety of adverse reactions, some of them serious.
Anaphylactoid Reactions During Desensitization
Two patients undergoing desensitizing treatment with hymenoptera venom while receiving ACE inhibitors sustained life-threatening anaphylactoid reactions. In the same patients, these reactions did not occur when ACE inhibitors were temporarily withheld, but they reappeared when the ACE inhibitors were inadvertently readministered.
Anaphylactoid Reactions During Membrane Exposure
Anaphylactoid reactions have been reported in patients dialyzed with high-flux membranes and treated concomitantly with an ACE inhibitor. Anaphylactoid reactions have also been reported in patients undergoing low-density lipoprotein apheresis with dextran sulfate absorption.
Head and Neck Angioedema
Angioedema of the face, extremities, lips, tongue, glottis, and larynx has
been reported in patients treated with ACE inhibitors including MAVIK. Symptoms
suggestive of angioedema or facial edema occurred in 0.13% of MAVIK-treated
patients. Two of the four cases were life-threatening and resolved without treatment
or with medication (corticosteroids). Angioedema associated with laryngeal edema
can be fatal. If laryngeal stridor or angioedema of the face, tongue or glottis
occurs, treatment with MAVIK should be discontinued immediately, the patient
treated in accordance with accepted medical care and carefully observed until
the swelling disappears. In instances where swelling is confined to the face
and lips, the condition generally resolves without treatment; antihistamines
may be useful in relieving symptoms. Where there is involvement of the tongue,
glottis, or larynx, likely to cause airway obstruction, emergency therapy, including
but not limited to subcutaneous epinephrine solution 1:1,000 (0.3 to 0.5 mL)
should be promptly administered. (See PRECAUTIONS - Information
for Patients and ADVERSE REACTIONS.)
Intestinal Angioedema
Intestinal angioedema has been reported in patients treated with ACE inhibitors.
These patients presented with abdominal pain (with or without nausea or vomiting);
in some cases there was no prior history of facial angioedema and C-1 esterase
levels were normal. The angioedema was diagnosed by procedures including abdominal
CT scan or ultrasound, or at surgery, and symptoms resolved after stopping the
ACE inhibitor. Intestinal angioedema should be included in the differential
diagnosis of patients on ACE inhibitors presenting with abdominal pain.
Hypotension
MAVIK can cause symptomatic hypotension. Like other ACE inhibitors, MAVIK has
only rarely been associated with symptomatic hypotension in uncomplicated hypertensive
patients. Symptomatic hypotension is most likely to occur in patients who have
been salt- or volume-depleted as a result of prolonged treatment with diuretics,
dietary salt restriction, dialysis, diarrhea, or vomiting. Volume and/or salt
depletion should be corrected before initiating treatment with MAVIK. (See PRECAUTIONS
- DRUG INTERACTIONS, and ADVERSE
REACTIONS.) In controlled and uncontrolled studies, hypotension was
reported as an adverse event in 0.6% of patients and led to discontinuations
in 0.1% of patients.
In patients with concomitant congestive heart failure, with or without associated
renal insufficiency, ACE inhibitor therapy may cause excessive hypotension,
which may be associated with oliguria or azotemia, and rarely, with acute renal
failure and death. In such patients, MAVIK therapy should be started at the
recommended dose under close medical supervision. These patients should be followed
closely during the first 2 weeks of treatment and, thereafter, whenever the
dosage of MAVIK or diuretic is increased. (See DOSAGE
AND ADMINISTRATION.) Care in avoiding hypotension should also be taken
in patients with ischemic heart disease, aortic stenosis, or cerebrovascular
disease.
If symptomatic hypotension occurs, the patient should be placed in the supine position and, if necessary, normal saline may be administered intravenously. A transient hypotensive response is not a contraindication to further doses; however, lower doses of MAVIK or reduced concomitant diuretic therapy should be considered.
Neutropenia/Agranulocytosis
Another ACE inhibitor, captopril, has been shown to cause agranulocytosis and
bone marrow depression rarely in patients with uncomplicated hypertension, but
more frequently in patients with renal impairment, especially if they also have
a collagen-vascular disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma.
Available data from clinical trials of trandolapril are insufficient to show
that trandolapril does not cause agranulocytosis at similar rates. As with other
ACE inhibitors, periodic monitoring of white blood cell counts in patients with
collagen-vascular disease and/or renal disease should be considered.
Hepatic Failure
ACE inhibitors rarely have been associated with a syndrome of cholestatic jaundice, fulminant hepatic necrosis, and death. The mechanism of this syndrome is not understood. Patients receiving ACE inhibitors who develop jaundice should discontinue the ACE inhibitor and receive appropriate medical follow-up.
Fetal/Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality
ACE inhibitors can cause fetal and neonatal morbidity and death when administered to pregnant women. Several dozen cases have been reported in the world literature. When pregnancy is detected, ACE inhibitors should be discontinued as soon as possible.
The use of ACE inhibitors during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy has been associated with fetal and neonatal injury, including hypotension, neonatal skull hypoplasia, anuria, reversible or irreversible renal failure, and death. Oligohydramnios has also been reported, presumably resulting from decreased fetal renal function; oligohydramnios in this setting has been associated with fetal limb contractures, craniofacial deformation, and hypoplastic lung development. Prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, and patent ductus arteriosus have also been reported, although it is not clear whether these occurrences were due to the ACE inhibitor exposure.
These adverse effects do not appear to have resulted from intrauterine ACE-inhibitor exposure that has been limited to the first trimester. Mothers whose embryos and fetuses are exposed to ACE inhibitors only during the first trimester should be so informed. Nonetheless, when patients become pregnant, physicians should make every effort to discontinue the use of trandolapril as soon as possible.
Rarely (probably less often than once in every thousand pregnancies), no alternative to ACE inhibitors will be found. In these rare cases, the mothers should be apprised of the potential hazards to their fetuses, and serial ultrasound examinations should be performed to assess the intra-amniotic environment.
If oligohydramnios is observed, trandolapril should be discontinued unless it is considered life-saving for the mother. Contraction stress testing (CST), a non-stress test (NST), or biophysical profiling (BPP) may be appropriate, depending upon the week of pregnancy.
Patients and physicians should be aware, however, that oligohydramnios may not appear until after the fetus has sustained irreversible injury.
Infants with histories of in utero exposure to ACE inhibitors should
be closely observed for hypotension, oliguria, and hyperkalemia. If oliguria
occurs, attention should be directed toward support of blood pressure and renal
perfusion. Exchange transfusions or dialysis may be required as a means of reversing
hypotension and/or substituting for disordered renal function.
Doses of 0.8 mg/kg/day (9.4 mg/m2/day) in rabbits, 1000 mg/kg/day
(7000 mg/m2/day) in rats, and 25 mg/kg/day (295 mg/m2/day)
in cynomolgus monkeys did not produce teratogenic effects. These doses represent
10 and 3 times (rabbits), 1250 and 2564 times (rats), and 312 and 108 times
(monkeys) the maximum projected human dose of 4 mg based on body-weight and
body-surface-area, respectively assuming a 50 kg woman.