title: Another sudden death in a child treated with desipramine.
abstract: The sudden death of three children receiving the tricyclic antidepressant medication desipramine for behavioral disorders was reported in 1990. We now provide new information about these children and describe a fourth case. Because desipramine is a useful medication for many children, these deaths pose clinical dilemmas for physicians and families. The cardiac long QT syndrome has been proposed as a mechanism for these sudden deaths. Considerable uncertainty remains about the basis of the apparent association between the use of desipramine and the sudden deaths.
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Riddle
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors