Dichlorphenamide in the Treatment of the Broncho-Emphysematous Patient

¹ Consultant Chest Physician, Royal Halifax Infirmary

Dichlorphenamide is a drug with few and unimportant side effects when used in a dosage of 100-200 mg. Tingling of the fingers and paresthesia were the most frequent complaints, but neither was severe enough to require withdrawal of the patient from this trial. A number of side effects were also recorded by patients while on placebo tablets.

Subjective and objective improvements in breathing, the latter indicated by a reduction in arterial pCO₂ and increased vital capacity, were observed in four of 14 patients. Examination of the case records fails to disclose the reasons for the success obtained in these patients and the failure to respond to therapy in others. Clearly, a great deal of further work, in carefully controlled trials, must be undertaken to assess the proper place and the most suitable candidates likely to benefit from dichlorphenamide. However, our initial impression is that we cannot share the sanguine hopes entertained by other workers about the value of this drug in cases of pulmonary insufficiency with mild hypercarbia.