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A recent FDA warning of QT prolongation at higher doses of citalopram has led to concerns about the risk for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with this and other antidepressants. Now, researchers have used national medical databases to study all 19,110 individuals who had an OHCA in Denmark between 2001 and 2007.
Fifteen percent were taking antidepressants at the time of the OHCA. In a study design using patients as their own controls during periods of drug exposure and nonexposure, risk for OHCA was associated with beginning to take an antidepressant in the preceding month (odds ratio, 1.23). Increased risk for OHCA was primarily attributable to citalopram (OR, 1.29) and nortriptyline (OR, 5.14), but not to other selective serotonin or…