Impact of methadone treatment on cardiac repolarization and conduction in opioid users.
We prospectively assessed the effect of oral methadone on the corrected QT interval (QTc) among 160 patients free of structural heart disease and measured serum methadone concentrations and simultaneous QTc intervals in a subset of 44 participants. Mean +/- SD QTc increased by 12.4 +/- 23 ms (p <0.001) at 6 months, by 10.7 +/- 30 ms (p <0.001) at 12 months, and the QTc change from baseline to 12 months correlated with the trough (r = 0.37, p = 0.008) and peak (r = 0.32, p = 0.03) serum methadone concentrations.
Martell
Bridget A
BA
Section of General Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. bridget.martell@yale.edu
Arnsten
Julia H
JH
Krantz
Mori J
MJ
Gourevitch
Marc N
MN
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D011446:Prospective Studies
D009294:Narcotics; D008691:Methadone