Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33299775›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Saudi Heart Association2020

Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin as a Treatment of COVID-19: Electrocardiogram Variability.

Amal El Ouarradi, Salma Abdeladim, Sara Oualim, Rita Aniq Filali, Ilham Bensahi, Mahassine Elharass, Sara Hafid, Hamza Tazi, Abdelhamid Naitlhou, El Arbi Bouaiti and 2 more

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Saudi Heart Association, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Amal El OuarradiDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Salma AbdeladimDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Sara OualimDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Rita Aniq FilaliDepartment of Internal Medicine, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Ilham BensahiDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Mahassine ElharassDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Sara HafidDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Hamza TaziDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Abdelhamid NaitlhouDepartment of Internal Medicine, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
El Arbi BouaitiLaboratory of Biostatistics, Clinical Research and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco.
Abdelhamid MoustaghfirDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Mohamed SabryDepartment of Cardiology, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Cheikh Khalifa Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco.
Université Mohammed VI des Sciences de la Santé · MAMohammed V University · MA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin is widely discussed. This treatment can cause many severe cardiac side effects that makes us discuss its utility. The aim of this study is to describe the cardiovascular effect of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin by analyzing surface ECG in patients with COVID-19. This observational cohort study included Moroccan patients with COVID-19 diagnosis and were hospitalized in Cheikh Khalifa International University Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco between March 26 and April 20, 2020. Patients were treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin over a period of at least ten days. We were interested in the effects of this combination on the electrocardiogram. A total of 118 eligible patients were enrolled in the study. QT interval prolongation was observed in 19% of patients under the treatment. Only 5 patients required discontinuation of treatment. The factors associated with QT prolongation are male gender (P value 0,043), age over 68 years (P value 0,09), cardiovascular comorbidity (P value 0,013), tisdale score ≥11 (P value < 0,001), and a severe form of COVID-19 (P value < 0,001). First degree atrioventricular block was observed in 2 patients. No serious rhythm or conduction disorders were observed in this study. QT prolongation is a real risk with the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. In the current context, it is necessary to select patients at high risk of severe rhythm disturbances that require closer ECG monitoring. Treatment should be discontinued if there are alarming signs such as QTc prolongation beyond 550 ms and the development of ventricular extrasystole or torsade de pointe.

Indexed as

AzithromycinCOVID-19ElectrocardiogramHydroxychloroquineQT prolongation

Identifiers

PMID33299775
PMCPMC7721450
OpenAlexW3080608423

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.