Hydroxychloroquine an antimalarial medication has been approved in March 2020 by FDA for treatment of hospitalized patient with COVID-19 infection. Even thus, its efficacy has been controversial, it still being used worldwide. This medication also causes some serious side effects. Here we present a case of a woman with a very long history of treatment resistant schizoaffective disorder, on clozapine, who develops QT prolongation after receiving hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 infection.

Despite the controversy, this case aims to shed light on the importance of monitoring QTc via EKG in patient receiving hydroxychloroquine7. More importantly to avoid antipsychotic while patient is receiving this medication since both hydroxychloroquine and most antipsychotic can increase QTc.

This case report was written by reviewing chart of the patient and also via direct interaction and interviews with the patient.

This case report showed and increased in QTc interval after receiving hydroxychloroquine, which is also reported by others including Moussa Sleh et al in their article on Effect of Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, and Azithromycin on the Corrected QT Interval in Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection4. The increase in Qtc could have been worse if Clozapine was not stopped during this time.

COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 700000 deaths around the globe and more than 150000 deaths in the United States of America. Psychiatric patients are also getting hospitalized and receiving treatment with hydroxychloroquine. Holding anti-psychotics and monitoring of QTc via EKG resulted crucial in limiting the adverse effect of QT prolongation of both medications.

No significant relationships.

Countless substances used for their psychotropic effects may induce adverse cardiac effects, such as QT prolongation. This category of substances holds illicit drugs as well as medications, with their effects influenced by dosage, concomitant use and patient specific factors. The appraisal of cardiac consequences is essential as delayed repolarization may lead to the rare but potentially deadly polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.

The goal of this presentation is to underscore the cardiac risks associated with both medication use and substance abuse in order to ensure the suitable psychopharmacological treatment, especially in particular situations of drug using patients.

The subject of the presentation is a 17-year-old female adolescent hospitalized in our clinic, with multiple substance abuse, as seen in qualitative multidrug test (cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy, barbiturates, benzodiazepines), previously under complex treatment prescribed by an adult psychiatrist (3 atypical antipsychotics, 1 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, 1 anticonvulsant, 1 benzodiazepine). Specialty literature has been reviewed concerning the cardiac effects of both the abuse substances and the psychiatric medications.

Multiple drugs involved may cause a myocardial repolarization delay, the patient having a QTc of 508 msec at the admission. Consequent to parenteral fluids and treatment managing, ECG revealed a decrease to 379 msec 7 days later in the stay. This finding could not be viewed solely as caused by drug use, psychiatric medication or individual factors, but rather as their aggregation.

Psychotropic substances use may lead to QT prolongation, which calls for close cardiac supervision whenever patient’s behaviour warrants or when pharmacologic intervention is required.

No significant relationships.