Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan:102:389-391.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.080. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Why we should be more careful using hydroxychloroquine in influenza season during COVID-19 pandemic?

Hülya Gamze Çelik  1 , Şiran Keske  2 , Ülker Şener  3 , Müge Tekbaş  4 , Mahir Kapmaz  5 , Şükrü Taylan Şahin  1 , Aslı Özyıldırım  3 , Saide Aytekin  6 , Vedat Aytekin  6 , Önder Ergönül  7
Affiliations

Why we should be more careful using hydroxychloroquine in influenza season during COVID-19 pandemic?

Hülya Gamze Çelik et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the QTc prolongation and related adverse cardiac events during the administration of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and its combinations for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hospitalized patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) who received HCQ and had initial and follow-up electrocardiograms performed between March 10 and May 30, 2020 were included. Critical QTc prolongation was detected in 12% of the patients. On multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 5.8, 95% confidence interval 1.11-30.32, p = 0.037) and the use of oseltamivir (odds ratio 5.3, 95% confidence interval 1.02-28, p = 0.047) were found to be associated with critical QTc prolongation.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiac events; Hydroxychloroquine; Predictors; QT prolongation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The study population. (HCQ: hydroxychloroquine, ECG: electrocardiogram.).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chorin E., Wadhwani L., Magnani S., Dai M., Shulman E., Nadeau-Routhier C. QT Interval Prolongation and Torsade De Pointes in Patients with COVID-19 treated with Hydroxychloroquine/Azithromycin. Heart Rhythm. 2020 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Helfenbein E.D., Zhou S.H., Lindauer J.M., Field D.Q., Gregg R.E., Wang J.J. An algorithm for continuous real-time QT interval monitoring. J Electrocardiol. 2006;39(4 Suppl) S123-7. - PubMed
    1. Jankelson L., Karam G., Becker M.L., Chinitz L.A., Tsai M.C. QT prolongation, torsades de pointes, and sudden death with short courses of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine as used in COVID-19: A systematic review. Heart Rhythm. 2020 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jefferson T., Jones M.A., Doshi P., Del Mar C.B., Hama R., Thompson M.J. Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults and children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014;(4) - PubMed
    1. Meeting W.E.R.G. 2017. The cardiotoxicity of antimalarials. Available from: https://www.who.int/malaria/mpac/mpac-mar2017-erg-cardiotoxicity-report-.... 2017]