Inferior ST-Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction or an Inferior-Lead Brugada-like Electrocardiogram Pattern Associated With the Use of Pregabalin and Quetiapine?

Brugada syndrome: should we be screening patients before prescribing psychotropic medication?

Brugada syndrome (BrS) presents with a characteristic electrocardiogram (ECG) and is associated with sudden cardiac death. Until now, prolongation of QTc interval and its association with Torsade de Pointe and possible fatal arrhythmia have been the focus of routine baseline ECGs before prescribing psychotropic medication. A semi-systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed. The terms 'Brugada', 'Brugada Syndrome' AND 'psychotropic' 'antipsychotic' 'antidepressant' 'mood stabilisers' 'clozapine' 'Tricyclic Antidepressants' 'Lithium' were searched. From a search that delivered over 200 articles, 82 articles were included. Those that included details around causative medication, doses of medication and where clear timeline on drug cause were included. Where clarification was needed, the manufacturer of the medication was contacted directly. Psychotropic medication can be associated with BrS, Brugada phenocopy or unmasking of BrS, in overdose or in normal doses. Our results include a table summarising a number of psychotropic overdoses that led to BrS unmasking. Routine screening for BrS in patients before prescribing psychotropic medication is a natural extension of the baseline ECG currently routinely done to rule out QTc prolongation. Psychiatrists need to invest in ensuring better skills in interpreting ECGs and work closer with cardiologists in interpreting ECGs.

QT-interval evaluation in primary percutaneous coronary intervention of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction for prediction of myocardial salvage index

Assessing the efficacy of revascularization therapy in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is extremely important in order to guide subsequent management and assess prognosis. We aimed to determine the relationship between corrected QT-interval (QTc) changes on standard sequential ECG and myocardial salvage index in anterior STEMI patients after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Fifty anterior STEMI patients treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention underwent quantitative ECG analysis and cardiac magnetic resonance. For each patient the difference (ΔQTc) between the QTc of ischemic myocardium (maximum QTc in anterior leads) versus remote myocardium (minimum QTc in inferior leads) during the first six days after STEMI was measured. The QTc in anterior leads was significantly longer than QTc in inferior leads (p<0.0001). At multivariate analysis, ΔQTC and peak troponin I were the only independent predictors for late gadolium enhancement while ΔQTc and left ventricular ejection fraction were independent predictors of myocardial salvage index <60%. The receiver operative curve of ΔQTc showed an area under the curve of 0.77 to predict a myocardial salvage index <0.6. In conclusion, in a subset of patients with a first occurrence of early revascularized anterior STEMI, ΔQTc is inversely correlated with CMR-derived myocardial salvage index and may represent a useful parameter for assessing efficacy of reperfusion therapy.