Interrelationships between serum levels of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, reverse T3 and the QT interval during long-term amiodarone treatment

Abstract

The interrelationships between serum levels of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, and reverse T3, and changes in the corrected QT interval (delta QTc) were examined in 22 patients during long-term treatment with amiodarone. At 1, 3, and 6 months of follow-up, the correlation coefficient between serum levels of amiodarone or desethylamiodarone and reverse T3 ranged from 0.01 to -0.2 (p greater than 0.4). At the same time intervals, the correlation coefficient between both amiodarone and desethylamiodarone levels and delta QTc ranged from 0.1 to -0.1 (p greater than 0.6), and the correlation coefficient between reverse T3 and delta QTc also ranged between 0.1 to -0.1 (p greater than 0.5). Substituting percent delta QTc for delta QTc also did not reveal a significant correlation. These data demonstrate that serum levels of reverse T3 cannot be used as a substitute for serum levels of amiodarone in monitoring patients being treated with amiodarone. The absence of a correlation between serum reverse T3 levels and delta QTc suggests that the delay in repolarization which occurs during amiodarone therapy is not secondary to an amiodarone-induced abnormality in thyroid hormone metabolism.