QTc Interval Screening in an Opioid Treatment Program

QTc interval screening in methadone treatment.

DESCRIPTION An independent panel developed cardiac safety recommendations for physicians prescribing methadone. METHODS Expert panel members reviewed and discussed the following sources regarding methadone: pertinent English-language literature identified from MEDLINE and EMBASE searches (1966 to June 2008), national substance abuse guidelines from the United States and other countries, infor...

Alcohol Screening among Opioid Agonist Patients in a Primary Care Clinic and an Opioid Treatment Program.

Problem alcohol use is associated with adverse health and economic outcomes, especially among people in opioid agonist treatment. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) are effective in reducing alcohol use; however, issues involved in SBIRT implementation among opioid agonist patients are unknown. To assess identification and treatment of alcohol use disorders, we rev...

Mortality and QTc prolongation in opioid maintenance treatment

Ketamine-induced QTc interval prolongation

Sir, Ketamine is a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. It is widely used as a dissociative anesthetic and is also used as an adjunct in pain management, particularly in opioid-tolerant patients. It blocks calcium channels and depresses sodium channel function as well as having anticholinergic effects. It inhibits the re-uptake of the catecholamines and may hav...

DRUGS AND QTc INTERVAL DISPERSION

The measure of delayed ventricular repolarization most frequently used clinically is the ability of the new chemical entity to prolong the QTc interval on surface electrocardiogram. Intramyocardial dispersion of repolarization appears to play a more important role both in electrical stability of the ventricles and in arrhythmogenesis. The potential importance of myocardial dispersion of refract...