Review
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World J Cardiol. Jun 26, 2013; 5(6): 175-185
Published online Jun 26, 2013. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v5.i6.175
Mechanisms of drug-induced proarrhythmia in clinical practice
Arkadia Konstantopoulou, Spyros Tsikrikas, Dimitrios Asvestas, Panagiotis Korantzopoulos, Konstantinos P Letsas
Arkadia Konstantopoulou, Spyros Tsikrikas, Dimitrios Asvestas, Konstantinos P Letsas, Second Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, 10676 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Korantzopoulos, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital of Ioannina, 45500 Ioannina, Greece
Author contributions: Konstantopoulou A and Asvestas D reviewed the literature, and helped to draft the manuscript; Tsikrikas S reviewed the literature, organized the different sections of the paper and helped to draft the manuscript; Korantzopoulos P and Letsas KP critically revised the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to: Konstantinos P Letsas, MD, FESC, Second Department of Cardiology, Laboratory of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, 45-47, Ipsilantou st., 10676 Athens, Greece. k.letsas@mail.gr
Telephone: +30-210-6843854 Fax: +30-210-6513317
Received: January 17, 2013
Revised: May 11, 2013
Accepted: May 18, 2013
Published online: June 26, 2013
Core Tip

Core tip: A growing number of cardiac and non-cardiac agents have been shown to alter cardiac repolarization predisposing to the most dangerous cardiac arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death. These agents may induce the phenotype of long QT syndrome and less commonly of short QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome. Treating physicians are advised to follow the lists of agents implicated in drug-induced proarrhythmia in order to minimize the risk of arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.