title: Ventricular tachycardia following ingestion of a commonly used antihistamine.
abstract: This report describes ventricular tachycardia, likely to have been torsade de pointes, following ingestion of the non-sedating antihistamine loratadine. Documentation of the arrhythmia was made possible by the automatic electrogram storage facility of an implanted defibrillator in a patient with no prior history of cardiac arrhythmia.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, NSW.
authors.forename: Dennis L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kuchar
authors.forename: Bruce D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Thorburn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D005260:Female; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D017336:Loratadine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000139:chemically induced*; D016171:Torsades de Pointes / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D017336:Loratadine