Cardiac arrhythmias related to psychiatric medication

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (09) ◽  
pp. 747-750
Author(s):  
R. W. Freudenmann ◽  
C. Schönfeldt-Lecuona ◽  
B. J. Connemann ◽  
M. Gahr ◽  
M. Elsayed

SummaryThis narrative review summarizes current available information about cardiac arrhythmias (QT prolongation, Torsade de pointes Tachycardia [TdP], sudden cardiac death) associated with psychiatric medication. Among the most commonly used antipsychotics, amisulpride and ziprasidone are most frequently associated with TdP. Treatment with some antidepressants (SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants) is associated with a 5- to 6-fold increase in the incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Lithium is associated with bradycardia, T-wave changes and AV-block; anxiolytics of the benzodiazepine group do usually not have cardiac side effects. The combination of multiple drugs (including medications from general medicine) that prolong the QT interval has a particularly high cardiac risk.

Author(s):  
Mohamed Elsayed ◽  
Emaad Abdel-kahaar ◽  
Maximilian Gahr ◽  
Bernhard J. Connemann ◽  
Michael Denkinger ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Most psychiatric drugs, such as antidepressants (AD) and antipsychotics (AP), may cause cardiac adverse events (CAE). We used summaries of product characteristics (SmPC) for assessing the likelihood of AD and AP to cause CAE. Methods We identified all original medicinal products (OMP) of AD and AP approved in Germany. We searched for their SmPCs using the online services of PharmaNet.Bund, Gelbe liste®, Rote Liste®, Fachinfo-Service®, and via manufacturer contact. We extracted frequencies of reported CAE (QT prolongation, Torsade de Pointes tachycardia, and ventricular arrhythmia) and performed a risk assessment. Results We obtained the SmPCs of 24 AD and 26 AP identified as OMP. Comparably high reported frequencies regarding QT prolongation were found for Invega® (paliperidone), Serdolect® (sertindole) (≥ 1/100 and < 1/10), and Zoloft® (sertraline) (≥ 1/10.000 and < 1/1000); regarding Torsade de Pointes tachycardia were found for Serdolect® (≥ 1/1000 to < 1/100), Zoloft®, and Trevilor® (venlafaxine) (≥ 1/10.000 and < 1/1000); regarding ventricular tachycardia for Solian® (amisulpride), Xomolix® (droperidol), Zyprexa® (olanzapine), and Trevilor® (≥ 1/10.000 and < 1/1000). Conclusion The risk and frequency of CAE, as reported in the SmPCs, varied significantly among substances and between groups. There are more reports for AP than AD. The AP with the most frequently reported CAE (QT prolongation and Torsade de Pointes tachycardia) was Serdolect®; for AD, Zoloft® (QT prolongation, Torsade de Pointes tachycardia) and Trevilor® (Torsade de Pointes tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia) carried a higher cardiac risk.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Torben K. Becker ◽  
Sai-Ching J. Yeung

Cancer patients are at an increased risk for QT interval prolongation and subsequent potentially fatal Torsade de pointes tachycardia due to the multiple drugs used for treatment of malignancies and the associated symptoms and complications. Based on a systematic review of the literature, this article analyzes the risk for prolongation of the QT interval with antineoplastic agents and commonly used concomitant drugs. This includes anthracyclines, fluorouracil, alkylating agents, and new molecularly targeted therapeutics, such as vascular disruption agents. Medications used in the supportive care can also prolong QT intervals, such as methadone, 5-HT3-antagonists and antihistamines, some antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals. We describe the presumed mechanism of QT interval prolongation, drug-specific considerations, as well as important clinical interactions. Multiple risk factors and drug–drug interactions increase this risk for dangerous arrhythmias. We propose a systematic approach to evaluate cancer patients for the risk of QT interval prolongation and how to prevent adverse effects.


2001 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
pp. 384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Alter ◽  
Daniela Tontsch ◽  
Wolfram Grimm

Heart ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M Pripp ◽  
P Blomstrom

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-177
Author(s):  
Sandra J. Girgis ◽  
Megan E. Maroney ◽  
Mei T. Liu

Abstract Introduction: Many psychotropic medications carry a risk of prolonging the QT interval and increasing the risk of developing Torsade de pointes (TdP). The goal of this study was to evaluate whether patients taking psychotropic agents with a known risk of TdP are being monitored at a community hospital through the use of electrocardiograms (EKGs). Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of 100 adult patients—50 from general medicine floors and 50 from psychiatric units—who were taking at least one psychotropic agent with a known risk of TdP during hospitalization. Results: The mean number of medications with QT-prolongation risk administered to the psychiatric and general medicine patients was 4.2 ± 1.7 and 3.9 ± 2.0, respectively (P = .7484). Thirty-two of the psychiatric patients (64%) and 48 of the general medicine patients (96%) received EKGs during their hospitalization (P &lt; 0.0001). Of those newly starting the target medications, 58% (18 of 31) of the psychiatric patients and 71% (5 of 7) of the general medicine patients received a baseline EKG. The difference was not statistically significant (P = .6807). Overall, 8 patients (8%) had corrected QT (QTc) intervals &gt;500 ms. Four had repeat EKGs performed, and none had medication changes made to decrease TdP risk. Discussion: Many inpatients on psychiatric medications received multiple medications with a risk of TdP, but not all received monitoring through baseline or repeat EKGs when warranted. Patients with QTc intervals &gt;500 ms were not appropriately managed to lower their risk of TdP. Pharmacists thus can help improve the monitoring and management of QT prolongation.


Author(s):  
Waleed M. Sweileh ◽  
Adham S. AbuTaha ◽  
Ansam F. Sawalha ◽  
Suleiman Al-Khalil ◽  
Samah W. Al-Jabi ◽  
...  

Background: The year 2015 marked the end of United Nations Millennium Development Goals which was aimed at halting and reversing worldwide tuberculosis (TB). The emergence of drug resistance is a major challenge for worldwide TB control. The aim of this study was to give a bibliometric overview of publications on multi-, extensively, and totally drug-resistant TB. Methods: Scopus database was used to retrieve articles on multidrug resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and totally drug-resistant (TDR) tuberculosis for the study period (2006–2015). The number of publications, top productive countries and institutions, citation analysis, co-authorships, international collaboration, active authors, and active journals were retrieved and analyzed. Results: A total of 2260 journal articles were retrieved. The mean ± SD citations per article was 7.04 ± 16.0. The h-index of retrieved data was 76. The number of publications showed a three – fold increase over the study period compared with less than two – fold increase in tuberculosis research during the same study period. Stratified by number of publications, the United States of America ranked first while Switzerland ranked first in productivity per 100 million people, and South Africa ranked first in productivity stratified per one trillion Gross Domestic Product. Three of the High Burden Countries (HBC) MDR-TB (India, China, and South Africa) were present in top productive countries. High percentage of international collaboration was seen among most HBC MDR-TB. Except for Plos One journal, most active journals in publishing articles on MDR, XDR, TDR-TB were in infection – related fields and in general medicine. Top 20 cited articles were published in prestigious journal such as Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine. The themes in top 20 cited articles were diverse, ranging from molecular biology, diagnostic tools, co-infection with HIV, and results of new anti-TB drugs. Conclusion: Publications on MDR, XDR and TDR – TB are increasing in the past decade. International collaboration was common. Many low resourced African and Asian countries will benefit from research leading to new diagnostic and screening technology of TB. The exchange of expertise, ideas and technology is of paramount importance in this field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S368-S369
Author(s):  
April Chan ◽  
Ajay Kapur ◽  
Bradley Langford ◽  
Mark Downing

Abstract Background The use of facility-specific guidelines and clinical decision-making tools are recommended by a number of organizations to improve the appropriateness of empiric antimicrobial prescribing; however, how to increase usage is not clear. We evaluated the impact of embedding antimicrobial stewardship (AS) electronic order sets (EOS) into the general medicine admission EOS in the context of an established AS program. Methods The standalone EOS for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), urinary tract infection (UTI) and cellulitis were reviewed and simplified to only include the antibiotic section prior to embedding. The intervention was introduced on March 30, 2017 with pre-intervention period defined as January 1, 2016 to March 29, 2017 and post-intervention period as of March 30, 2017 to June 30, 2018. The primary outcome was the change in usage of embedded AS EOS compared with the corresponding standalone EOS using counts. In addition, other standalone AS EOS (i.e., Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), etc) were used as a control. The secondary outcomes were the change in antibiotic usage de-emphasized in embedded EOS (i.e., ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, moxifloxacin) and predicted prescribing shifts to antibiotics in the embedded EOS (i.e., amoxicillin-clavulanate, azithromycin and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim) using Days of Therapy (DOT)/1000 patient-days (PD). Paired t-test was used to compare antibiotic usage pre- and post-intervention. Results The usage of standalone EOS remained similar pre- and post-intervention except for a 16-fold increased usage of CDI EOS. There were large increases in uptake of the embedded EOS compared with the standalone EOS: 11-fold () increase for CAP, 47-fold () increase for UTI and 24-fold () increase for cellulitis. In addition, there was a statistically significant decrease in ciprofloxacin (mean 16.6 DOT/1000-PD vs. 13.6 DOT/1000-PD, P = 0.026) and moxifloxacin usage (mean 9.3 DOT/1000-PD vs. 5.2 DOT/1000-PD) during the study time period. Conclusion Our study showed that simplifying AS EOS and embedding these into a more commonly used EOS is associated with a significant increase in EOS usage and uptake of AS recommended empiric antibiotics with a decrease in fluoroquinolone usage. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


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