Related Experiment Videos
Sudden cardiac death after treatment with low dose risperidone in combination with cotrimoxazole
Fariba Rajabi1, Farhad Hajsheikholeslami, Narges Beyraghi
1Department of Psychiatry, Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
Unlabelled:
Risperidone as an antipsychotic drug raises the risk of serious ventricular tachyarrhythmias and sudden cardiac death; co-administered with other potentially arrhythmogenic drugs the risk escalates. There are some electrocardiographic markers which may help predict such events.
Case Report:
We describe a 47-year-old woman with acute psychosis, who died suddenly subsequent to refractory ventricular arrhythmia, while on low dose risperidone combined with cotrimoxazole.
Conclusion:
This case report suggests that use of risperidone even at a low dose and in an apparently healthy individual is associated with a heightened risk of lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Therefore, clinicians should always be aware of such awkward effect. It is recommended to obtain baseline electrocardiogram in all patients and follow up electrocardiograms in selected patients when considering such therapy in order to avoid fatal outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
Drug Toxicity: Risk factors
Drug toxicity: Idiosyncratic Reactions
Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Treatment Strategies
Drug toxicity: Drug–Drug Interaction
Drug Toxicity: Allergic Reactions
Drug Toxicity: Dose-Dependent Reactions