Abstract
Commercial procainamide hydrochloride tablets given orally to a 25-year-old female patient with a cramp associated with small polyposis of gastric mucosa were excreted into the feces without any disintegration 10 hours after administration. In this study, disintegration of procainamide hydrochloride tablets was examined in immersion fluids with various acidity. The tablets never disintegrated in the test solution at pH of 5-6. It was found in a test of the gastric juice that the patient had gastric achylia where the acidity of gastric juice might have prevented the disintegration. The fact seems important to discuss because gastric achylia is not a rare symptom and because the drug is excreted without any effect in such patient. Most of the drugs should be so manufactured as to disintegrate in a wide range of pH. If a drug disintegrates only in a limited range, that should be printed in the package insert for the drug. Further, caution should be taken before use of the drug against specific intestinal conditions of patients.
