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
Review
. 2022 Mar;14(1):95-104.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccep.2021.10.009. Epub 2021 Oct 30.

Arrhythmogenic Risk and Mechanisms of QT-Prolonging Drugs to Treat COVID-19

Marco Schiavone  1 , Alessio Gasperetti  2 , Elisa Gherbesi  3 , Luca Bergamaschi  3 , Roberto Arosio  3 , Gianfranco Mitacchione  3 , Maurizio Viecca  3 , Giovanni B Forleo  3
Affiliations
Review

Arrhythmogenic Risk and Mechanisms of QT-Prolonging Drugs to Treat COVID-19

Marco Schiavone et al. Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

While looking for a solution to treat COVID-19, the massive off-label use of several drugs in COVID-19 has generated concerns in the early phase of the pandemic because of possible arrhythmogenic effects in relation to QTc interval prolongation. Indeed, some of these drugs have been historically associated with QT prolongation and Torsade de Point, a potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmia, and their first-time use on a very large scale has raised several concerns in the scientific community. This work aims to summarize the underlying arrhythmogenic mechanisms related to the use of potentially QT-prolonging drugs used during the pandemic to treat COVID-19.

Keywords: Antivirals; COVID-19; Hydroxychloroquine; QT interval; Torsade de point; Ventricular arrhythmias.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Proposed algorithm to identify patients at risk of developing ventricular arrhythmias when treating with one or more QT-prolonging drugs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gattinoni L., Coppola S., Cressoni M., et al. COVID-19 does not lead to a “typical” acute respiratory distress syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020;201(10):1299–1300. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Busana M., Gasperetti A., Giosa L., et al. Prevalence and outcome of silent hypoxemia in COVID-19. Minerva Anestesiol. 2021;87(3):325–333. - PubMed
    1. Zhou F., Yu T., Du R., et al. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet. 2020;395(10229):1054–1062. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang D., Hu B., Hu C., et al. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA. 2020;323(11):1061–1069. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huang C., Wang Y., Li X., et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):497–506. - PMC - PubMed