ISSN 2326-7283
African Journal of Internal Medicine ISSN 2326-7283 Vol. 8 (10), pp. 001-003, October, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Torsade de pointes in a patient with bronchopenumonia and atrial fibrillation treated with clarithromycin
Lihua Fang1, Chung-Jen Huang2*, Hwang-Daw Hua3 and Chung-Hsin Huang4
1Department of Pharmacy, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
2Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
3Division of Cardiology, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
4Department of Anesthesiology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Accepted 22 July, 2020
Abstract
Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic widely used in pulmonary infection and Helicobacter pylori eradication. QT prolongation on an electrocardiogram with torsade de pointes is an uncommon fatal side effect. We report a patient with atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure who develops torsade de pointes after clarithromycin, tamoxifen, amoxillin/clavulanate, digoxin and verapamil use, and discuss the pharmacological mechanism and prevention.
Key words: Torsade de pointes, clarithromycin, atrial fibrillation, QT interval.