Fluoroquinolones and the Risk of Serious Arrhythmia

In lieu of an abstract, here is the letter's first paragraph: THE EDITOR—We read with great interest the recent article by Lapi et al in the 1 December 2012 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, which aimed to address the clinical conundrum regarding the risk of serious arrhythmia attributed to fluoroquinolone exposure [1]. In this article the authors concluded that fluoroquinolones, in particular gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin, and ciprofloxacin, are associated with increased rates of serious arrhythmia. We believe readers should interpret these conclusions cautiously as the authors’ conclusions are not supported by the methods employed and the results presented.