Antipsychotic Agents, QT Interval Changes and Risk of Arrhythmias

Overview

Antipsychotic agents are a diverse group of drugs acting mostly through dopamine and serotoninreceptor blockade in the central nervous system. In general, they are effective drugs with animportant social impact. The list of adverse effects is long and cardiovascular adverse effects arecommon. The most important one is sudden death in relationship to QT interval prolongation.The understanding of this topic is facilitated by the congenital long QT syndrome research revealing the molecular genetic basis of this disease. The paper summarizes basic facts of membraneelectrophysiology of the myocardium and up-to-date knowledge about QT prolonging drugs. Possible mechanisms are explained with attention to risk factors. In the conclusion basic possibilities of sudden death prevention in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs are presented.

Key words:
antipsychotic agents, QT interval, sudden death, ion channels, torsade de pointes.