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Pulmonary hypertension during epileptic seizure with evidence of increased angiotensin II in pulmonary artery.

Ueno Y, Takagi A, Kawana M, Kasanuki H

Department of Cardiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.

We experienced a 78-year-old man in whom transient pulmonary hypertension was documented during epileptic seizure. A Swan-Ganz catheter demonstrated that pulmonary arterial pressure rose immediately after the initiation of the seizure, which was followed by systemic hypertension. The plasma level of angiotensin II increased in pulmonary circulation during the seizures; however, catecholamines did not change from the baseline. The patient responded well to treatment with an antiepileptic drug and losartan potassium.

Published 8 February 2005 in Heart Vessels, 20(1): 37-8.
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