Incidence and Determinants of QT Interval Prolongation in COVID-19
Patients Treated with Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin
Abstract
Combined use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was globally
adopted, in part due to paucity and high cost of alternative therapies.
However the utility of these medications has been questioned; and thus
safety becomes a major concern given clinical equipoise regarding
efficacy. Both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin continue to be
administered in US clinical trials examining their potential role in
prevention of infection, treatment of mild infection in ambulatory
patients, and in combination with other medical regimens in treatment of
patients with severe disease. These drugs also continue to be clinically
utilized in hospitalized patients around the globe, often without
continuous telemetry due to lack of resources. Concern regarding use of
hydroxychloroquine without adequate rhythm monitoring in clinical trials
has been recently expressed.1 A review of clinicaltrials.gov at the time
of submission of this correspondence reveals actively recruiting trials
of combined hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin with or without additional
COVID-19 therapies, for both ambulatory and hospitalized patients within
and outside the US. The potential for hydroxychloroquine and
azithromycin to cause QT prolongation is counterbalanced by very low
risk of pro-arrhythmia in the general population, and emerging evidence
of relatively low risk of Torsades de Pointes (TdP) in COVID-19
patients.2,3,4,5 Thus delineation of the determinants of significant QTc
prolongation and pro-arrhythmic risk for hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin
is very important, especially given mounting evidence of inefficacy in
COVID-19 treatment.