QT prolongation is over-estimated by Bazett compared to Friderica in Japanese child and adolescent inpatients

Recent researches suggested that the risk of drug-induced QTc prolongation is low in child and adolescent psychiatry setting. However, these cohorts enrolled mainly of Caucasian background. We aimed to assess the prevalence of QTc prolongation and its association with antipsychotic use in Japanese youth. The medical records of inpatients were reviewed. Two different definitions of QT prolongation, Bazett’s corrected QT interval (QTcB)>450 msec and Fridericia’s corrected QT interval (QTcF)>450 msec, were adopted. In 220 participants [age: 13.4 ± 2.3 years, antipsychotics according to the chlorpromazine equivalence: 50 (25th–75th percentiles; 0–150) mg/day], the prevalence of QTcB and QTcF prolongation was 13.6 and 2.3%, respectively. Patients with QTcB>450 msec had a significantly higher heart rate than those with QTcB ≤450 msec (91.2 ± 20.6 bpm vs. 76.1 ± 15.2 bpm; P 
Source: International Clinical Psychopharmacology - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research