title: Antidepressant and QT interval prolongation, how should we look at this issue? Focus on citalopram.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence increasingly points to the potential development of harmful cardiac side effects concomitant with the use of a number of psychotropic drugs, primarily traditional antipsychotics and tricyclic antidepressants.
  
  
  METHODS
  The US Food and Drug Administration announced safety warnings associated with the use of citalopram with QT interval prolongation in 2011 and 2012. This paper explores the clinical background of QT interval prolongation, clinical data related to antidepressants and QT interval prolongation, the clinical implications of safety issues associated with the use of antidepressants and future research directions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Currently available evidence proposes that citalopram may not be definitely associated with the increase of cardiac mortality, although it should be related with increase of QT prolongation. A firm consensus regarding the cardiac safety issues associated with antidepressants has to be established in near future. Hence, the choice of an individual antidepressant regarding cardiac safety issues should be based on multiple factors; clinicians may need to select the best available antidepressant for each individual based on that patient's vulnerability, the proven efficacy and safety of each agent and a reasonable benefit:risk ratio, based on currently available findings.
authors.affiliation: The Catholic University of Korea, Psychiatry , Sosa-Dong, Wonmi-Gu, Bucheon, 420717 , Republic of Korea pae@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Chi-Un
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Pae
authors.forename: Sheng-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Soo-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Changsu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Ashiwn A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Patkar
authors.forename: Prakash S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Masand
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015283:Citalopram; D008133:Long QT Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D015283:Citalopram