2013 Articles

Antipsychotic medications and sudden cardiac arrest: More than meets the eye?

Peacock, James; Whang, William

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains an important public health problem and is stubbornly difficult to predict or prevent. A growing literature has emerged studying psychiatric conditions, such as depression and schizophrenia, and risk of arrhythmia and SCA.1–3 This field is challenging from an epidemiologic perspective, partly because of the rarity of SCA events in the general population without known heart disease and the potential confounding factors that may influence findings.4 For instance, there is increased recognition that treatments for mental illness may themselves raise cardiac risk.