Purpura and bleeding due to calcium channel blockers: A preliminary study

Objective to estimate the frequency of purpura and bleeding in patients on calcium channel blockers and association between calcium channel blocker therapy and petechiae due to capillary fragility induced by hess test. methods a facility based cross-sectional study was conducted involving 60 adult patients only on calcium channel blockers (ccbs) for cardiovascular causes for at least 3 months duration. all the patients were questioned about the spontaneous occurrence of purpura and were examined for purpura. hess test was performed in all the subjects and the result noted. patients also underwent investigations to rule out other causes of purpura or bleeding. results none of the 60 hypertensive patients included in our study who were only on amlodipine,a calcium channel blocker,had any history suggestive of or examination findings suggestive of spontaneous bleeding or occurrence of purpura. abnormal hess test was also not seen in any of the subjects. platelet count,bleeding time,clotting time and prothrombin time,the key investigations in cases of bleeding disorders were all normal in all the subjects. conclusion the results of our study showed that treatment with calcium channel blockers (ccbs),particularly amlodipine,is not related to purpura or bleeding. our study also shows that therapy with the ccb amlodipine is not associated with petechiae due to capillary fragility induced by hess test.