pharmacology

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare, autosomal dominant condition involving mutations in the ryanodine receptor type 1 (RYR-1) causing an aberrant calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) mechanism. With normal skeletal muscle contraction,…
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A simple overview of acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity:
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In any basic pharmacology course, we're taught the concept of an "elimination half-life", or the time it takes to reach 50% of a drug's initial concentration. With more advanced multi-compartmental models of pharmacokinetics, the concept of…
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Vasopressin, otherwise known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is a peptide hormone synthesized in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary gland. Its physiologic effects include vascular smooth muscle constriction (via V1…
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Once a patient's arterial pH falls below ~7.10, many of our resuscitative measures (namely vasoactive agents) fail in the face of worsening acidemia. While we attempt to correct the underlying etiology of acidosis, sometimes it becomes…
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