Observational studyInternational journal of clinical practice2021
Hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin treatment, QT interval and ventricular arrhythmias in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.
Observational study in International journal of clinical practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis on the risk factors adjusted association between cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 severity.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Pediatric Use of Off-Label Medicines and Nonevidence-Based Supplements for COVID-19: Findings From the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study (Brazil).Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Safety of Short-Term Treatments with Oral Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with and without COVID-19: A Systematic Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Fragmented QRS is a marker of mortality in patients with severe COVID-19: A retrospective observational study.Anatolian journal of cardiology · 2021Observational
- Efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a meta-analysis.Future virology · 2021Review
- Efficacy and Safety of Azithromycin for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2021Article
- Hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin treatment, QT interval and ventricular arrhythmias in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.International journal of clinical practice · 2021Observational
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM) are widely used in off-label treatment of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, cardiac safety of these drugs is still controversial in COVID-19. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate association of HCQ or HCQ + AZM treatment regimens, corrected QT (QTc) interval and malignant ventricular arrhythmias in hospitalized patients.
methodsThis is a single-center, retrospective and observational study. All data were extracted from the electronic medical records. The initial and post-treatment mean QTc intervals were calculated and compared in patients with HCQ alone or HCQ + AZM therapy. Associated factors with QTc prolongation, the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia during treatment and in-hospital mortality because of ventricular arrhythmias were evaluated.
resultsOur cohort comprised 101 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (mean age of 49.60 ± 18 years, 54.4% men). HCQ + AZM combination therapy group (n = 56) was more likely to have comorbidities. After 5-days treatment, 19 (18.8%) patients had QTc prolongation, and significant increase in the QTc interval was observed in both two groups (P < .001). However, HCQ + AZM combination group had significantly higher ΔQTc compared to HCQ group (22.5 ± 18.4 vs 7.5 ± 15.3 ms, P < .001). All of 101 patients completed the 5-days treatment without interruption. Also, no malignant ventricular arrhythmia or death secondary to ventricular arrhythmia occurred during the treatment in both groups.
conclusionsThe present study revealed that although HCQ + AZM treatment was independently associated with QTc prolongation, none of patients experienced malignant ventricular arrhythmia or death during treatment. Further prospective studies are needed to determine the exact implications of these drugs on arrhythmias in patients with COVID-19.
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