english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2013 > In the July issue of Prescrire International: Quetiapine and cardiac muscle disorders

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In the July issue of Prescrire International: Quetiapine and cardiac muscle disorders

FREE DOWNLOAD Reports of myocarditis and cardiomyopathy in patients taking the neuroleptic quetiapine are a cause for concern. Quetiapine is chemically similar to clozapine and olanzapine, both of which are known to sometimes provoke these adverse effects.
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Abstract

  • Several detailed case reports have described cardiac muscle disorders (cardiomyopathy and myocarditis) in patients treated with quetiapine, some of which have been fatal. The symptoms included shortness of breath and oedema. The disorders sometimes resolved on withdrawal of quetiapine.
     
  • Quetiapine is chemically similar to clozapine and olanzapine, which are known to sometimes provoke this type of adverse effect.
     
  • In practice, a patient who develops dyspnoea or other signs of heart failure during quetiapine therapy may benefit if the drug’s role is recognised and quetiapine withdrawn.

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 ©Prescrire 1 July 2013

"Quetiapine and cardiac muscle disorders" Prescrire Int 2013; 22 (140): 184. (Pdf, free)

 
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