Signal-averaged electrocardiogram in physically healthy, chronic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) users.
OBJECTIVE
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) use has been associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Markers of ventricular late potentials (VLP), which may be a precursor to malignant ventricular arrhythmias, can be detected by signal-averaged electrocardiography (SA-ECG), but not by standard ECG.


METHODS
We evaluated SA-ECG parameters in 21 physically healthy, recently abstinent MDMA users who also used cannabis (11 males, mean [SD] age 23.3 [4.6] years, 2.8 [2.0] years of use), 18 physically healthy cannabis users (8 males, mean [SD] age 26.6 [7.1] years, 11.2 [5.4] years of use) and 54 non-drug-using controls (21 males, mean [SD] age 28.4 [7.8] years). We analyzed three SA-ECG parameters considered markers of VLPs: duration of filtered QRS complex (fQRS), duration of low amplitude potentials during terminal 40 ms of QRS complex (LAS40), and root mean square voltage during terminal 40 ms of QRS complex (RMS40).


RESULTS
MDMA users, cannabis users, and non-drug-using controls did not differ significantly from each other in fQRS, LAS40, or RMS40 values or in the proportion of subjects with abnormal SA-ECG parameters. There were significant gender differences among controls, but not among MDMA users.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that chronic MDMA use is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively associated with a high prevalence of abnormal SA-ECG parameters indicative of VLP markers.
Intramural Research Program, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Praveen
P
Kanneganti
Marilyn A
MA
Huestis
Erin A
EA
Kolbrich
Robert
R
Goodwin
Roy C
RC
Ziegelstein
David A
DA
Gorelick
D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000503:physiopathology; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D006213:Hallucinogens; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine