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DOI: 10.4103/1947-489X.210751
Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (PMVT) secondary to a combination of azithromycin and fluoxetine in a case of acute pancreatitis
Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PMVT) is characterized by QRS complexes of changing amplitude that appear to twist around the isoelectric line. Torsades de Pointes (Tdp) is a variant of PMVT in which there is prolongation of QTc interval (generally exceeding 500 milliseconds). A number of medications have been noted to prolong the QTc interval. We describe a clinical case in which the culprits are Azithromycin and Fluoxetine. Azithromycin has been regarded as a “safer” macrolide when it comes to proarrhythmia as compared to erythromycin or clarithromycin. However, in certain clinical circumstances like combination drug usage, unique clinical features like underlying pancreatitis in this particular patient, some of the medications that are deemed low risk can certainly be more proarrhythmic. It is therefore important to review the clinical and pharmaceutical profiles of every patient before choosing which medications to prescribe.
Publication History
Received: 03 February 2011
Accepted: 13 May 2011
Article published online:
23 May 2022
© 2012. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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