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Clevidipine For Acute Blood Pressure Management In The Neurological Intensive Care Unit, Dorota K. Szarlej, Pharmd, Jessica L. Mckeon, Pharmd, Akta S. Patel, Pharmd, Bcps, Amber King

College of Pharmacy Faculty Papers

Clevidipine is a third generation intravenous dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist approved for treatment of acute hypertension when oral therapy is not feasible or desirable. It is an arterial vasodilator that is metabolized by plasma esterases; therefore, it is eliminated independently of the liver and kidney.1 Clevidipine has been studied for the control of perioperative hypertension2-5 as well as for the management of hyper-tensive crises6 when immediate blood pressure control is clinically necessary. Benefits include its tolerability, rapid onset and offset, and easy titration with predictable response. Other continuously infused intravenous antihypertensives used in the neurocritical care patient population include nicardipine, …