title: Cardiac Arrest following a Myocardial Infarction in a Child Treated with Methylphenidate.
abstract: The use of psychostimulants labeled to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder increases. Among side effects these drugs raise blood pressure and heart rate, and the safety has been scrutinised in recent years. Data from large epidemiological studies, including over a million person-years, did not report any cases of myocardial infarction in current users of methylphenidate, and the risk of serious adverse cardiac events was not found to be increased. We present a case with an 11-year-old child, treated with methylphenidate, who suffered cardiac arrest and was diagnosed with a remote myocardial infarction. This demonstrates that myocardial infarction can happen due to methylphenidate exposure in a cardiac healthy child, without cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munk
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov Skovagervej 2, 8240 Risskov, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gormsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Won Yong
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels Holmark
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Andersen