QTc Prolongation and Psychotropics- Management of Prolonged QTc interval in Psychiatry

Posted on:November 3, 2020
Last Updated: February 9, 2022
Time to read: 8 minutes

Psychotropic drugs are known to be associated with a prolonged QTc interval with differing risk profiles. As psychotropic drugs prolong cardiac repolarization, they increase the risk of Torsades de Pointes (TdP).

Heart rate corrected QT interval (QTc) on the ECG is the most widely used and accepted marker to screen for the risk of Torsades de Pointes.

There are no currently clear guidelines with regards to prescribing, and monitoring of psychotropic medications in the context of QTc and this article is meant to provide some guidance with regards to the use of psychotropic medications and QTc interval prolongation.

We cover key points from [Xiong G et al., 2020] and [Funk M et al., 2020] to assist clinicians in prescribing medications with lower QTc prolongation risk, monitoring requirements and managing QTc prolongation.

 

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