This case highlights the importance of pre-treatment EKG screening for latent long QT syndrome before prescribing QT-prolonging antidepressants like escitalopram, even in elderly patients.
<ns4:p>Long QT syndrome is a genetically inherited heart disease caused by mutations in genes coding for the ion channels expressed in the heart cells. Like any other hereditary pathology Long QT Syndrome manifestations often start at a young age.</ns4:p> <ns4:p>We report the case of a 65-year-old woman who presented a syncope after taking antidepressants, revealing a congenital long QT syndrome.</ns4:p> <ns4:p>The onset of cardiovascular symptoms in elderly subjects with such an unrecognized entity is very rare and is most often due to transient biological disturbances or to the use of certain drugs, which prolong the QT interval.</ns4:p>
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Noamen et al. (2022) studied this question.
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