| Literature DB >> 33122341 |
Rani Khatib1,2,3, Fatima R N Sabir4, Caroline Omari4, Chris Pepper3, Muzahir Hassan Tayebjee3.
Abstract
Many drug therapies are associated with prolongation of the QT interval. This may increase the risk of Torsades de Pointes (TdP), a potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. As the QT interval varies with a change in heart rate, various formulae can adjust for this, producing a 'corrected QT' (QTc) value. Normal QTc intervals are typically <450 ms for men and <460 ms for women. For every 10 ms increase, there is a ~5% increase in the risk of arrhythmic events. When prescribing drugs associated with QT prolongation, three key factors should be considered: patient-related risk factors (eg, female sex, age >65 years, uncorrected electrolyte disturbances); the potential risk and degree of QT prolongation associated with the proposed drug; and co-prescribed medicines that could increase the risk of QT prolongation. To support clinicians, who are likely to prescribe such medicines in their daily practice, we developed a simple algorithm to help guide clinical management in patients who are at risk of QT prolongation/TdP, those exposed to QT-prolonging medication or have QT prolongation. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Entities:
Keywords: Adverse events; Cardiology; Clinical pharmacology; Pacing & electrophysiology; Therapeutics
Mesh:
Year: 2020 PMID: 33122341 PMCID: PMC8237186 DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138661
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Postgrad Med J ISSN: 0032-5473 Impact factor: 2.401
Figure 1Measurement of the QT interval.
Figure 2Non-linear relationship in the estimated rate of patients being free of cardiac events at 40 years of age and QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc). The study included 647 patients from families with long-QT syndrome divided into four quartiles based on QTc interval. ‘Cardiac events’ were defined as the occurrence of syncope, cardiac arrest or sudden death, and these increased non-linearly with increasing QTc. Data were extracted from a Kaplan–Meier survival graph presented in Priori et al (2003) using WebPlotDigitizer v3.9.
Patient risk factors for Torsades de pointes with drug-induced QT prolongation.
| Non-modifiable | Potentially modifiable |
|---|---|
|
Congenital long QT syndrome* QT-prolonging drugs Structural heart diseases, such as heart failure (low ventricular ejection fraction), left ventricular hypertrophy, and myocardial infarction Thyroid disease (not treated); more common with hypothyroidism Impaired hepatic or renal function (could affect drug metabolism) Female sex Age >65 years |
Bradycardia Uncorrected electrolyte disturbances (hypokalaemia, hypomagnesaemia, hypocalcaemia) Recent cardioversion with a QT-prolonging drug |
*Congenital long QT syndrome is rare (estimated prevalence: ~1 in 2000–2500 infants) but is associated with a risk of arrhythmia and premature sudden death.
Selected drugs that can cause QT prolongation
| High risk | Some risk | Risk not categorised* |
|---|---|---|
|
Antiarrhythmics, class Ia (ajmaline, cibenzoline, disopyramide, hydroquinidine, procainamide, quinidine) Antiarrhythmics, class III (amiodarone, azimilide, cibenzoline, dofetilide, dronedarone, ibutilide, sotalol, vernakalant) Arsenic trioxide Artemisinin derivatives (artemisinin, artemether/lumefantrine, artenimol) Halofantrine Haloperidol Ketanserin Mesoridazine Panobinostat Pimozide Ribociclib Sertindole Thioridazine Vandetanib |
Amisulpride Anagrelide Bedaquiline Bosutinib Cabozanitib Chlorpromazine Citalopram Crizotinib Dasatinib Delamanid Domperidone Dolasetron Droperidol Efavirenz Eribulin Escitalopram Fluconazole Gatifloxacin Hydroxyzine Iloperidone Lapatinib Levomepromazine Methadone Moxifloxacin Nilotinib Ondansetron Paliperidone Pasireotide Pazopanib Quinine Ranolazine Romidepsin Saquinavir boosted with ritonavir Sildenafil Sorafenib Sparfloxacin Sultopride Sunitinib Telaprevir Tolterodine Toremifene Tricyclics Vardenafil Voriconazole Ziprasidone |
Amifampridine Androgen antagonists (abiraterone, bicalutamide, enzalutamide, flutamide, nilutamide) Anthracyclines Apomorphine Asenapine Atomoxetine Azithromycin Boceprevir Brompendol Ciprofloxacin Clarithromycin Clofazimine Chloroquine Clozapine Erythromycin Foscarnet Gonadorelin analogues (buserelin, goserelin, histrelin, leuprorelin, triptorelin) Gonadorelin antagonists (degarelix) Levofloxacin Lithium Lofexidine Oxaliplatin Olanzapine Oxytocin Pentamidine (intravenous) Piperaquine Quetiapine Rilpivirine Risperidone Sodium stibogluconate Solifenacin Spiramycin Sulpiride Tacrolimus Telavancin Telithromycin Terlipressin Tizanidine Trazodone Venlafaxine Vinflunine Zotepine Zuclopentixol |
*Drugs with less clear evidence of the risk of QT prolongation.
These lists are not exhaustive. Furthermore, other drugs (not included here) do not themselves prolong the QT interval but potentiate the effect of drugs that do. More information can be found online.
QT prolongation risk assessment tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Tisdale risk score for QT prolongation ( | Predicts the risk of QT prolongation >500 ms in hospitalised patients. Uses risk factors that are weighted. Suitable for patients in CCCUs. A score ≥11 predicted development of a QT interval >500 ms. The tool was developed using patients admitted to CCCUs and hence generalisability to broader populations may be limited. |
| MedSafety Scan (MSS) QT prolongation risk score ( | A platform for therapeutic decision support that incorporates the QT drugs database from the CredibleMeds website with reliable drug–drug interaction predictions to identify patients at greatest risk of major adverse drug reactions. Built to deliver accurate therapeutic risk assessment without false positives or irrelevant information. Calculation of QT risk score for ICU patients based on Tisdale risk score (validated), or for non-ICU patients using the MSS QT prolongation risk score (non-validated). It includes the risk factors in the Tisdale tool and additional risk factors reported in the literature, such as drug interactions and other validated cardiac risk factors. It is more comprehensive than the Tisdale tool. Provides advice on drug interactions. |
| Risk of QT drug–drug interactions assessment tool.
| A tool enabling the identification of patients with an increased risk of QTc prolongation when using two or more QTc-prolonging drugs with a known risk of TdP. Includes seven risk factors that are predictors of QT prolongation. Development of the tool might have had selection bias as the prevalence of QT prolongation was quite high compared with the overall prevalence found in the literature review. Also, the tool does not take into account the variety of QT drug–drug interactions. This could be due to the fact that stratification of QT drug–drug interactions is extremely complex and will most likely require a clinical decision in the absence of clear studies in this area. |
| Sharma clinical decision support system.
| A clinical decision support system to prevent the use of QT-prolonging medications in the hospital setting. Detects patients at risk of significant QT prolongation (QTc >500 ms) and alerts providers ordering QT-prolonging drugs. ECGs are automatically screened and those with significant QT prolongation (QTc >500 ms for adults; >470 ms for paediatric patients) have “Prolonged QT” documented in their records. When QT-prolonging drugs are ordered in a patient previously identified as having significant QT prolongation, the prescriber is alerted. The alert presents the name of the drug, level of the risk (risk of or possible risk of TdP), any QT-prolonging drug already on the medication list, and a link to online educational resources with more information on how to manage QT prolongation. |
| Hincapie-Castillo predictive model for drug-associated QT prolongation.
| A model for predicting severe QT interval prolongation in hospitalised patients using inpatient electronic health record data. The model includes 26 factors for predicting the 24-hour risk of QT events on hospital day 1 and on hospital days 2–5. |
| Bindraban risk model for predicting QTc interval prolongation in patients using QTc-prolonging drugs.
| A risk model to predict QTc interval prolongation of eligible ECGs. The model was developed by examining ECGs recorded in patients using one or more QTc-prolonging drugs. Independent risk factors for QTc interval prolongation were determined and risk scores were assigned. The model predicts the risk of QTc interval prolongation. |
CCCU, cardiac critical care unit; ECG, electrocardiogram; ICU, intensive care unit; QTc, corrected QT; TdP, Torsades de Pointes.
Figure 3Management of QT prolongation in practice.
How to assess the risk of drug-induced QT prolongation
| Key questions |
|---|
| Does the patient have any risk factors for QT prolongation? |
| Is the new medication associated with a risk of QT prolongation? |
| Are there any potential drug interactions that could increase the risk of QT prolongation? |
| Is the medication essential? Are there any alternatives? |