Torasemide


Torasemide, also known as torsemide, is a diuretic medication used to treat fluid overload due to heart failure, kidney disease, and liver disease and high blood pressure. It is a less preferred treatment for high blood pressure. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein.
Common side effects include headache, increased urination, diarrhea, cough, and dizziness. Other side effects may include hearing loss and low blood potassium. Torasemide is a sulfonamide and loop diuretic. Use is not recommended in pregnancy or breastfeeding. It works by decreasing the reabsorption of sodium by the kidneys.
Torasemide was patented in 1974 and came into medical use in 1993. It is available as a generic medication. A month supply in the United Kingdom costs the NHS less than 10 £ as of 2019. In the United States the wholesale cost is about 0.07 to 0.27 USD per dose as of 2020. In 2017, it was the 264th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than one million prescriptions.

Medical uses

It is used to treat fluid overload due to heart failure and high blood pressure. Compared with furosemide, torsemide is associated with a lower risk of rehospitalization for heart failure and an improvement in New York Heart Association class of heart failure. In heart failure it may be safer and more effective than furosemide.

Adverse effects

No evidence of torasemide-induced ototoxicity has been demonstrated in humans. Loop diuretics, including torsemide, may decrease total body thiamine, particularly in people with poor thiamine intake, and this depletion may worsen heart failure. It is therefore reasonable to either also give thiamine supplements or to check blood thiamine levels in those being treated with chronic loop diuretics.

Chemistry

Compared with other loop diuretics, torasemide has a more prolonged diuretic effect than equipotent doses of furosemide and relatively decreased potassium loss.

Names

Torasemide is the recommended name of the drug according to the, which is the drug naming system coordinated by the World Health Organization. Torsemide is the official name of the drug according to the, which is the drug naming system coordinated by the USAN Council, which is co-sponsored by the American Medical Association, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, and the American Pharmacists Association.