Reactions 1391 - 3 Mar 2012

O SCitalopram/opipramol overdose

QTc interval prolongation: case reportQTc interval prolongation occurred in a 46-year-old

woman after she took an overdose of citalopram andopipramol in a suicide attempt.

The woman, who had major depression, attemptedsuicide by ingesting 70 citalopram 20mg tablets (a totaldose of 1400mg) and 10 opipramol 50mg tablets. Whenshe was hospitalised, about 16h after ingestion, she wasmoderately agitated. Her mental focus, memory andcomprehension were reduced, and she had ataxia. She hadisolated pathological laboratory test results. Her QTcinterval was 541.6ms on day 1. Her serum level ofcitalopram about 29h after ingestion was 1231 ng/mL,10-fold above the therapeutic range of 50-130 ng/mL.

The woman’s serum citalopram level decreased to belowthe upper threshold of the therapeutic range by day 12, andwas undetectable at day 23. Her QTc interval decreased ina directly correlated manner, to below 500ms at day 6 andto 430.3ms at day 23.Unterecker S, et al. Correlation of QTc interval prolongation and serum level ofcitalopram after intoxication: A case report. Pharmacopsychiatry 45: 30-34, No. 1,Feb 2012. Available from: URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0031-1286346 -Germany 803067448

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Reactions 3 Mar 2012 No. 13910114-9954/10/1391-0001/$14.95 © 2010 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved