Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39194962›Full record

ArticleClinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.)2024

Evolving trends of pharmaceutical poisonings associated with QRS complex prolongation.

Katherine B Tang, Michael D Simpson, Michele M Burns, Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC)

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Clinical Factors Associated With Ventricular Dysrhythmia in Emergency Department Patients With Severe QTc Prolongation After Drug Overdose.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
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

4 authors.

Katherine B TangDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Michael D SimpsonDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Michele M BurnsHarvard Medical Toxicology, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC)American College of Medical Toxicology, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Funding

Harvard Clinical and Translational Science CenterUM1TR004408 · NCATS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI Lindsey Robert Baden, Lee Marshall Nadler · 2023 to 2026
$43.3M
Predicting medical consequences of novel fentanyl analog overdose using the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (TOXIC) R01DA048009 · NIDA · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Alex Francis Manini · 2020 to 2026
$6.7M
Training Program in Resuscitation ScienceT32HL155020 · NHLBI · BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER · PI Michael William Donnino, Robert Yeh · 2021 to 2026
$2.6M
NCATS NIH HHS UM1 TR004408NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL155020NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA048009
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionTricyclic antidepressants often cause drug-induced QRS complex prolongation in overdose but are now less commonly prescribed. We sought to determine, among a contemporary cohort of patients, the pharmaceuticals independently associated with QRS complex prolongation in acute overdose.

methodsWe performed secondary analysis of data from the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) Core Registry. We included adult patients presenting from January 2016 through March 2023 with acute or acute-on-chronic pharmaceutical exposures. The primary outcome was QRS complex prolongation >0.12 s. Secondary outcomes included cardiac arrest, death, ventricular dysrhythmia, intensive care unit admission, initiation of vasopressors, and treatment with sodium bicarbonate. We used a multivariable logistic regression model with QRS complex prolongation as the outcome and individual pharmaceuticals of interest as independent variables. We assessed yearly trends of the contribution of relevant pharmaceuticals to QRS complex prolongation since 2016.

resultsOf 11,945 patients in the total cohort (median age 37 years, 6,652 [55.7%] female), 366 (3.1%) developed QRS complex prolongation. Of 9,417 patients included in the model, 290 (3.1%) developed QRS complex prolongation. Amitriptyline, nortriptyline, doxepin, imipramine, noxiptiline, bupropion, flecainide, carvedilol, propranolol, diphenhydramine, and lamotrigine poisonings were independent predictors of QRS complex prolongation. Flecainide poisoning conferred the greatest odds of QRS complex prolongation (OR 574.1; 95% CI: 88.3-12,747). The contribution of tricyclic antidepressants to QRS complex prolongation decreased from 38.8% to 17.6% of all patients with QRS complex prolongation from 2016 to 2022. In 2022, the proportion of QRS complex prolongation from diphenhydramine (20.6%) surpassed that of tricyclic antidepressants. DISCUSSION: This study provides insights into contemporary pharmaceutical poisoning associated with QRS complex prolongation. Tricyclic antidepressants remain clinically relevant exposures but are no longer the most common cause of drug-induced QRS complex prolongation.

conclusionsBupropion, diphenhydramine, and antidysrhythmics are increasingly common causes of QRS complex prolongation, each associated with numerous severe outcomes in poisoning. Greater safety measures to protect patients from cardiovascular toxicity from these pharmaceuticals are warranted.

Indexed as

Antidepressive Agents, TricyclicDrug OverdoseAdultArrhythmias, CardiacElectrocardiographyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesAntidepressive Agents, TricyclicBupropiondiphenhydramineelectrocardiogramQRS complex prolongationtoxicology

Identifiers

PMID39194962
PMCPMC11421585

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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.