1 Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205
2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
3 Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas
To the Editor.
The recent report by Rauber and Maroncelli summarizing the results of a mail survey of pediatricians and family practitioners regarding their knowledge and usage of tricyclic medications1 demonstrates two points: (1) the pediatricians surveyed rarely (0.9%) used tricyclic medications for psychopharmacologic purposes in their practices, and (2) their knowledge of the toxic side effects (defined by Rauber and Maroncelli as tachycardia and seizures) is limited (67%). The authors state that the standard use of tricyclic medications, such as imipramine for enuresis, represents "the use of a dangerous drug for the treatment of a nonlethal disease."