[Esophageal ulcer caused by mexiletine]

The anti-arrhythmic drug mexiletine caused an oesophageal ulcer, confirmed by endoscopy and biopsy, in a 72-year-old woman. This side-effect has not previously been published. The clinical course was similar to that observed after oesophageal ulceration caused by other drugs. An ulcer in the piriform recess also developed in a 63-year-old man who was taking both acetylsalicylic acid and mexiletine: it cleared up after mexiletine had been discontinued.