Title: Ventricular fibrillation induced by xipamide.
Abstract: Xipamide (Diurexan) and indapamide (Natrilix) have been introduced as new antihypertensive agents. They are marketed as being more effective than the thiazide diuretics but not as potent as beta-blockers. They are both thiazide-related, being chemically similar to chlorthalidone. It is claimed that they lower blood pressure without causing an appreciable diuresis, and that the incidence of hypokalaemia in hypertensive patients is much lower than with the other thiazide diuretics. Thus many patients have been started on treatment with one of these two drugs, and they are especially popular with general practitioners because the regimen is one tablet a day.12 Patients who are referred to our outpatient department or who come as inpatients taking these drugs are frequently severely hypokalaemic and moreover are symptomatically so.