No abstract

No abstract

Citalopram and escitalopram have been the subject of several Health Canada and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisories issued since August 2011. 1-5 They raise concern over the potential for these agents to cause QT prolongation. Excessive lengthening of the heart rate-corrected QT (QTc) interval may in rare cases induce Torsade de Pointes (TdP), a tachyarrhythmia associated with ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrest, and in about 10 to 17% of cases, death. 6,7 As patient heart rhythm is not continuously monitored and death occurs rapidly, measuring the rate of TdP and the resulting mortality is exceptionally difficult, especially in the outpatient setting. 8