Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 13, 2026
10:07
Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
19.5K
Potentially fatal outcomes associated with clozapine
Kevin J Li1, Ronald J Gurrera1, Lynn E Delisi1
1VA Boston Healthcare System, 940 Belmont St., Bld 2, Brockton, MA 02301, USA; Harvard South Shore Psychiatry Residency Training Program, 940 Belmont St., Bld 5 116-A7, Brockton, MA, 02301, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St., Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Schizophrenia Research
|March 6, 2018
Summary
Clozapine is effective for treatment-resistant schizophrenia but carries risks. This case highlights clozapine-induced myocarditis, emphasizing the need for early, intensive cardiac monitoring during the first month of treatment.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Clozapine is a vital treatment for refractory schizophrenia.
- Significant risks include myocarditis, a potentially fatal cardiac condition.
- Early detection of clozapine-induced myocarditis is critical.
Observation:
- A 62-year-old male with chronic paranoid schizophrenia developed flu-like symptoms and chest pain within three weeks of initiating clozapine.
- The patient experienced rapid deterioration, including congestive heart failure, respiratory failure, and cardiovascular collapse.
- Despite medical intervention, the patient demised shortly after symptom onset.
Findings:
- The clinical presentation strongly suggests clozapine-induced myocarditis as the cause of death.
- Clozapine-induced myocarditis has a significant mortality rate, estimated up to 24%.
- Approximately 90% of cardiotoxic effects occur within the first month of clozapine therapy.
Implications:
- Intensified cardiac monitoring during the initial four weeks of clozapine therapy is crucial.
- Weekly monitoring should include cardiac enzymes (troponins, CK-MB), EKGs, and inflammatory markers (CRP, ESR).
- This case underscores the importance of vigilant surveillance to mitigate severe adverse events associated with clozapine treatment.
Related Concept Videos
02:24Predicting Reaction Outcomes
11.0K
Kinetics describes the rate and path by which a reaction occurs. In contrast, thermodynamics deals with state functions and describes the properties, behavior, and components of a system. It is not concerned with the path taken by the process and cannot address the rate at which a reaction occurs. Although it does provide information about what can happen during a reaction process, it does not describe the detailed steps of what appears on an atomic or a molecular level. On the other hand,...
11.0K
01:13Outcomes of Glycolysis
107.8K
Nearly all the energy used by cells comes from the bonds that make up complex organic compounds. These organic compounds are broken down into simpler molecules, such as glucose. As a result, cells extract energy from glucose over many chemical reactions—a process called cellular respiration.
Cellular respiration can occur aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically (without oxygen). In the presence of oxygen, cellular respiration starts with glycolysis and continues with pyruvate...
Cellular respiration can occur aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically (without oxygen). In the presence of oxygen, cellular respiration starts with glycolysis and continues with pyruvate...
107.8K
01:11Guidelines for Writing Outcome
4.1K
When developing expected outcomes for a patient care plan, the nurse should adhere to the following recommendations:
Patient outcomes reflect the patient's response to the goal rather than what the nurse aims to achieve. Terminology should be observable and measurable to avoid the reader's interpretation. The desired outcome should be realistic and achievable in the designated care timeframe. Expected outcomes should align with adjunctive therapies. The outcome should enhance care...
Patient outcomes reflect the patient's response to the goal rather than what the nurse aims to achieve. Terminology should be observable and measurable to avoid the reader's interpretation. The desired outcome should be realistic and achievable in the designated care timeframe. Expected outcomes should align with adjunctive therapies. The outcome should enhance care...
4.1K
01:08Obedience
35.7K
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
35.7K
02:09Bystander Effect
10.3K
The discussion of bullying highlights the problem of witnesses not intervening to help a victim. This is a common occurrence, as the following well-publicized event demonstrates. In 1964, in Queens, New York, a 19-year-old woman named Kitty Genovese was attacked by a person with a knife near the back entrance to her apartment building and again in the hallway inside her apartment building. When the attack occurred, she screamed for help numerous times and eventually died from her stab wounds.
10.3K
03:03Amyloid Fibrils
12.1K
Amyloid fibrils are aggregates of misfolded proteins. Under most circumstances, misfolded proteins are either refolded by chaperone proteins or degraded by the proteasome. However, in the case of a mutation or a disease, these proteins can accumulate to form large clusters and often further assemble to form elongated fibers, called fibrils.
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
12.1K