TY - JOUR

T1 - Risk of arrhythmia induced by psychotropic medications

T2 - a proposal for clinical management

AU - Fanoe, Søren

AU - Kristensen, Diana

AU - Fink-Jensen, Anders

AU - Jensen, Henrik Kjærulf

AU - Toft, Egon

AU - Nielsen, Jimmi

AU - Videbech, Poul

AU - Pehrson, Steen

AU - Bundgaard, Henning

N1 - Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2014. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Several drugs used in the treatment of mental diseases are associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). A general cause-relationship between the intake of these drugs and SCD is unattainable, but numerous case reports of drug-induced malignant arrhythmia and epidemiological studies, associating the use of specific drugs with SCD, strongly support the presence of an increased risk. Whereas the absolute risk of drug-induced life-threatening arrhythmia may be relatively low, even small increments in risk of SCD may have a major health impact considering that millions of patients are treated with psychotropics. In subgroups of pre-disposed patients, e.g. patients with cardiac diseases or other co-morbidities, the elderly or patients treated with other negatively interacting drugs, the absolute risk of drug-induced arrhythmia may be considerable. On the other hand, several of the major mental disorders are associated with a large risk of suicide if untreated. The observed risk of malignant arrhythmia associated with treatment with psychotropic drugs calls for clinical guidelines integrating the risk of the individual drug and other potentially interacting risk factors. In this review, data from various authorities on the risk of arrhythmia associated with psychotropic medications were weighted and categorized into three risk categories. Additionally, we suggest a clinically applicable algorithm to reduce the risk of malignant arrhythmia in patients to be treated with psychotropic medications. The algorithm integrates the risk categories of the individual drugs and pre-disposing risk factors and suggests a prudent follow-up for patients with an increased risk. We believe this clinically manageable guideline might improve safety in the many and rapidly increasing number of patients on psychotropic drugs.

AB - Several drugs used in the treatment of mental diseases are associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). A general cause-relationship between the intake of these drugs and SCD is unattainable, but numerous case reports of drug-induced malignant arrhythmia and epidemiological studies, associating the use of specific drugs with SCD, strongly support the presence of an increased risk. Whereas the absolute risk of drug-induced life-threatening arrhythmia may be relatively low, even small increments in risk of SCD may have a major health impact considering that millions of patients are treated with psychotropics. In subgroups of pre-disposed patients, e.g. patients with cardiac diseases or other co-morbidities, the elderly or patients treated with other negatively interacting drugs, the absolute risk of drug-induced arrhythmia may be considerable. On the other hand, several of the major mental disorders are associated with a large risk of suicide if untreated. The observed risk of malignant arrhythmia associated with treatment with psychotropic drugs calls for clinical guidelines integrating the risk of the individual drug and other potentially interacting risk factors. In this review, data from various authorities on the risk of arrhythmia associated with psychotropic medications were weighted and categorized into three risk categories. Additionally, we suggest a clinically applicable algorithm to reduce the risk of malignant arrhythmia in patients to be treated with psychotropic medications. The algorithm integrates the risk categories of the individual drugs and pre-disposing risk factors and suggests a prudent follow-up for patients with an increased risk. We believe this clinically manageable guideline might improve safety in the many and rapidly increasing number of patients on psychotropic drugs.

KW - Antidepressive Agents

KW - Antipsychotic Agents

KW - Arrhythmias, Cardiac

KW - Drug Therapy, Combination

KW - Heart Defects, Congenital

KW - Heart Failure

KW - Humans

KW - Mental Disorders

KW - Myocardial Ischemia

KW - Psychotropic Drugs

KW - Risk Factors

U2 - 10.1093/eurheartj/ehu100

DO - 10.1093/eurheartj/ehu100

M3 - Review

C2 - 24644307

VL - 35

SP - 1306

EP - 1315

JO - European Heart Journal

JF - European Heart Journal

SN - 0195-668X

IS - 20

ER -