While use in patients with aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aorta where it meets the left ventricle) since it does not inhibit the ventricles function is generally safe, it can still cause collapse in cases of severe stenosis. In unstable angina (excluding variant angina), amlodipine can cause a reflex increase in cardiac contractility (how hard the ventricles squeeze) and heart rate, which together increase the demand for oxygen by the heart itself. Patients with severe hypotension can have their low blood pressure exacerbated, and patients in heart failure can get pulmonary edema. Those with impaired liver function are unable to metabolize amlodipine to its full extent, giving it a longer half-life than typical.Amlodipines safety in pregnancy has not been established, although reproductive toxicity at high doses is known. Whether amlodipine enters the milk of breastfeeding mothers is also unknown.Those who have heart failure, or recently had a heart attack, should take amlodipine with caution. Adverse effects
Some common dose-dependent adverse effects of amlodipine include vasodilatory effects, peripheral edema, dizziness, palpitations, and flushing. Peripheral edema (fluid accumulation in the tissues) occurs at rate of 10.8% at a 10-mg dose (versus 0.6% for placebos), and is three times more likely in women than in men. It causes more dilation in the arterioles and precapillary vessels than the postcapillary vessels and venules. The increased dilation allows for more blood, which is unable to push through to the relatively constricted postcapillary venules and vessels; the pressure causes much of the plasma to move into the interstitial space.
In cats, it is the first line of treatment due to its efficacy and few side effects. Systemic hypertension in cats is usually secondary to another abnormality, such as chronic kidney disease, and so amlodipine is most often administered to cats with kidney disease. While amlodipine is used in dogs with systemic hypertension, it is not as efficacious. Amlodipine is also used to treat congestive heart failure due to mitral valve regurgitation in dogs. By decreasing resistance to forward flow in the systemic circulation it results in a decrease in regurgitant flow into the left atrium. Similarly, it can be used on dogs and cats with left-to-right shunting lesions such as ventricular septal defect to reduce the shunt. Side effects are rare in cats. In dogs, the primary side effect is gingival hyperplasia. References
External links

"Amlodipine". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. onog