CardioExchange Archive

August 19th, 2014

Increased Cardiac Risk Linked to Clarithromycin

Larry Husten, PHD

Acute use of the popular macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin has been linked to a small but significant increase in cardiac death. In a report in the BMJ, researchers in Denmark analyzed the effects over a 14-year period of the acute use of penicillin V, roxithromycin, and clarithromycin. Earlier research raised concerns that marcrolide antibiotics in general, and erythromycin and azithromycin in […]

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March 10th, 2014

Azithromycin, Levofloxacin Linked to Increased Risks for Arrhythmia and Mortality Compared with Amoxicillin

Nicholas Downing, MD

Azithromycin and levofloxacin carry higher arrhythmia and mortality risks than amoxicillin, according to an observational study in the Annals of Family Medicine. The FDA issued a cardiac warning on azithromycin in March 2013. Researchers studied nearly 1.8 million U.S. veterans (mean age, 57) who received outpatient prescriptions for one of the three antibiotics from 1999 to […]

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March 10th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: March 10th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include cognitive function and brain structure in type 2 diabetics after intensive lowering of BP and lipid levels, the association of β-blocker therapy with risks of adverse CV events and deaths in those with ischemic heart disease undergoing noncardiac surgery, and more.

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May 2nd, 2013

Danish Study Finds No Increased CV Risk with Azithromycin in General Population

Larry Husten, PHD

A large observational study found no increased risk for cardiovascular events associated with azithromycin (Zithromax, Pfizer) in a general population of young and middle-age adults. In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Danish investigators report the results of a large national observational study comparing people who took azithromycin with matched controls […]

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June 27th, 2012

Panel: Early Surgery for Infective Endocarditis

Larry M. Baddour, MD, Sabet W Hashim, MD and John E Brush, MD

Will findings from this trial of early surgery for infective endocarditis change your practice?

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May 23rd, 2012

Panel: Azithromycin and Cardiovascular Risk

Paul Sax, MD, Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS and Jeffrey Lance Anderson, MD

Three experts offer perspective on a large database study showing an association between azitrhromycin use and increased risk for cardiovascular death.

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May 17th, 2012

Azithromycin Associated with Cardiovascular Death

Physician's First Watch, CardioExchange Staff

The antibiotic azithromycin — which may have proarrhythmic properties — is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular death, according to a retrospective cohort study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study, in a Medicaid population, included nearly 350,000 azithromycin prescriptions, 1.4 million control periods without antibiotic prescriptions, and 1.8 million prescriptions for other antibiotics, […]

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