[Cardiac effects of acute poisoning with tricyclic antidepressants: systematic review of the literature -- Part II].
Tricyclic antidepressant overdose is a frequent diagnosis in the emergency room. It is responsible for a significant percentage of hospital admissions for observation and treatment. This is due to its cardiac (as well as neurologic) toxicity, and the difficulty in predicting its clinical gravity. The authors present this paper with two objectives in mind: 1) information about a common and significant cardiological emergency; 2) presentation of the methodology concerning systematic reviews of the literature. In this second (of four) articles, the clinical presentation and diagnosis of tricyclic antidepressant overdose are presented (in the first article--published in the previous issue of the Journal--we discussed the epidemiological aspects). In the remaining two papers we will present its management, prognosis and prevention. NOTE: This is the second of a series of four articles on the cardiac toxicity of tricyclic antidepressant overdose; the next two articles will be presented in the September and October issues of the Revista.
Costa
J
J
Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência, Faculdade de Medicina, Serviço de Cardiologia do Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisboa.
de Oliveira
E I
EI
Rosa
M M
MM
Ferreira
J J
JJ
Sampaio
C
C
Carneiro
A V
AV
D000208:Acute Disease; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000506:poisoning*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic