Predicting cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death in diabetic users of proarrhythmic drugs.

In diabetic patients, the corrected QT (QTc) interval is relatively long (1). In accordance with the concept of “reduced repolarization reserve” (2), a subsequent increase in QTc interval by proarrhythmic drugs may lead to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death. Recently, it was shown that patients with diabetes are at increased risk of drug-induced arrhythmias (3). We developed a decision tool to predict the risk of serious ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death among diabetic users of nonantiarrhythmic proarrhythmic drugs.