Successful treatment with enoximone for severe poisoning with atenolol and verapamil: a case report.

Combined poisoning with calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and beta-blockers is usually associated with severe hypotension and heart failure. Due to the block of the beta receptors, treatment with adrenergic agonists, even at high doses, can be insufficient, and beta-independent inotropes, such as glucagon, may be required. Phosphodiesterase III (PDEIII) inhibitors represent a possible alternative to glucagon in these cases as they have an inotropic effect which is not mediated by a beta receptor.

Provocative hypothalamopituitary axis tests in severe head injury: correlations with severity and prognosis.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of severe head injury on both the secretion of basal pituitary hormones and the response to exogenous synthetic hypothalamic releasing factors administration.

Design: Prospective, clinical study.

Setting: General intensive care unit in a university teaching hospital, Italy.