Treatment with some types of antidepressants has been associated with sudden cardiac death. It is unknown whether the increased risk is due to a class effect or related to specific antidepressants within drug classes. All patients in Denmark with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) were identified (2001-2007). Association between treatment with specific antidepressants and OHCA was examine...

The Extracorporeal Treatments In Poisoning (EXTRIP) workgroup was formed to provide recommendations on the use of extracorporeal treatments (ECTR) in poisoning. Here, the workgroup presents its results for tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). After an extensive literature search, using a predefined methodology, the subgroup responsible for this poison reviewed the articles, extracted the data, sum...

The English language literature on the use of benzodiazepines: in depressive disorders was reviewed. We selected double-blind random assignment studies in which benzodiazepines; were compared with reference drugs and/or placebo. Comparative studies with classical (non-triazolo) benzodiazepines in major depression show that these agents do not alleviate the core symptoms of depression, although ...

New data on the pharmacology of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), their affinities for human cloned CNS receptors and their cytochrome P450 enzyme inhibition profiles, allow improved deductions concerning their effects and interactions and indicate which of the TCAs are the most useful. The relative toxicity of TCAs continues to be more precisely defined, as do TCA interactions with selective s...

background: tricyclic antidepressants (tcas) poisoning is the most common poisoning in the poisoning emergency department of noor hospital, isfahan, iran. the objective of this study was to compare qrs interval duration with ravr³3mm and r/savr³ 0.7 in predicting: serious complications of acute tca toxicity. methods and materials: this study was descriptive – analytic and prospective cohort. tc...

OBJECTIVE To estimate risks of major congenital anomaly (MCA) among children of mothers prescribed antidepressants during early pregnancy or diagnosed with depression but without antidepressant prescriptions. DESIGN Population-based cohort study. SETTING Linked UK maternal-child primary care records. POPULATION A total of 349,127 singletons liveborn between 1990 and 2009. METHODS Odds r...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate whether antidepressants are more effective than placebo in the primary care setting, and whether there are differences between substance classes regarding efficacy and acceptability. METHODS We conducted literature searches in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and PsycINFO up to December 2013. Random...

OBJECTIVE A comprehensive meta-analysis of clinical trial data was performed to assess the possible association of fluoxetine and suicidality (suicidal acts and ideation). DESIGN Retrospective analysis of pooled data from 17 double blind clinical trials in patients with major depressive disorder comparing fluoxetine (n = 1765) with a tricyclic antidepressant (n = 731) or placebo (n = 569), or...

Although tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) blockade of cardiac Na+ channels is appreciated, actions on neuronal Na+ channels are less clear. Therefore, the effects of TCAs (amitriptyline, doxepin and desipramine) as well as trazdone and fluoxetine on voltage-gated Na+ current (INa) were examined in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells using the whole-cell patch-clamp method. Amitriptyline produced conc...

A variety of drugs targeted towards the central nervous system are associated with cardiac side effects, some of which are linked with reports of arrhythmia and sudden death. Some psychotropic drugs, particularly tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and antipsychotic agents, are correlated with iatrogenic prolongation of the QT interval of the electrocardiogram (ECG). In turn, this is associated wi...