BY , 11 Apr 2020
A hospital in France has had to stop an experimental treatment using hydroxychloroquine on at least one coronavirus patient after it became a “major risk” to their cardiac health.
The University Hospital Center of Nice (CHU de Nice) is one of many hospitals trialing hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. It announced it had been selected for the trial on March 22. A statement from the hospital said it was testing four experimental treatments, one of which included hydroxychloroquine. It hoped to establish its effectiveness and side effects of this and the other treatments being tested.
In an interview with the French daily newspaper Nice-Matin, Professor Émile Ferrari, the head of the cardiology department at the Pasteur hospital in Nice, said the side effects had already been identified, with some patients having to stop treatment because of the risk posed.
He said electrocardiogram recordings of patients involved with the trial were being constantly monitored. An ECG measures electrical activity in the heart, and represents this on a graph as a QT interval. Ferrari said these recordings are interpreted and, if anomalies are reported, treatment is stopped.
Asked if this had happened yet, he said: “Yes, from the start of the trial. Thanks to this ECG follow-up, we highlighted the major risks of a very serious accident in a patient, and the treatment was immediately stopped.”
The potential cardiac side effects of hydroxychloroquine were highlighted by the Mayo Clinic at the end of March. An article on its website said the drug has the potential to lead to sudden cardiac death in some patients. In a small number of patients it has the potential to lead to a prolonged QTc , which can result in an abnormal heart rhythm.
Hydroxychloroquine, Mayo Clinic said, blocks one of the channels that controls the heart’s electrical recharging systems. “This interference increases the possibility that the heart’s rhythm could degenerate into dangerous erratic heart beats, resulting ultimately in sudden cardiac death.”
In a statement, Michael J. Ackerman, a Mayo Clinic genetic cardiologist, said: “Correctly identifying which patients are most susceptible to this unwanted, tragic side effect and knowing how to safely use these medications is important in neutralizing this threat.” ( News Week )
