QTc Time Correlates with Amitriptyline and Venlafaxine Serum Levels in Elderly Psychiatric Inpatients

Pharmacopsychiatry
G HefnerC Hiemke

Abstract

Many antidepressants cause QT prolongation but the classification of cardiac risk of these drugs varies markedly in different published lists. This retrospective study analyzed the correlation of QTc time with amitriptyline and venlafaxine serum level in elderly psychiatric inpatients. Elderly inpatients aged≥65 years for whom venlafaxine or amitriptyline serum level had been measured were selected retrospectively from a therapeutic drug monitoring database and screened for an electrocardiogram measurement at the time of blood withdrawal. The correlation of amitriptyline or venlafaxine serum levels with QTc time was examined by using Pearson's correlation analysis. Amitriptyline serum levels (n=11) correlated significantly with QTc time (r=0.918, p<0.001, CI 95%). Venlafaxine serum levels (n=27) also correlated significantly with QTc time (r=0.382, p<0.05, CI 95%). Amitriptyline and venlafaxine induce QT prolongation depending on drug concentrations in blood. Its extent, however, is very low when drug serum levels are within the therapeutic range. Future pharmacokinetic studies that correlate drug serum level and QT time should classify the cardiac risk of drugs based on the grade of the regression line in relation to the thera...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 24, 2019·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·Maike Scherf-ClavelStefan Unterecker
Mar 30, 2019·European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience·Georgios SchoretsanitisMichael Paulzen
Oct 13, 2020·Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology·Lauren M BehlkeBenoit H Mulsant
Jan 9, 2021·Journal of Neural Transmission·Gudrun HefnerAnsgar Klimke
Jan 1, 2021·Case Reports in Psychiatry·Michael ChenAlfredo Bellon

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Arrhythmia

Arrhythmias are abnormalities in heart rhythms, which can be either too fast or too slow. They can result from abnormalities of the initiation of an impulse or impulse conduction or a combination of both. Here is the latest research on arrhythmias.