AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Myungsun Ro, PharmD, MS, Data Science and Research, Patient Safety Authority
ORCID iD https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7453-6224
Myungsun (Sunny) Ro (mro@pa.gov) is a research scientist on the Data Science & Research team at the Patient Safety Authority (PSA). Her responsibilities include analyzing and synthesizing data from various sources to identify opportunities to improve patient safety, as well as writing scientific articles for publication in the PSA’s peer-reviewed journal, Patient Safety.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, the Patient Safety Authority has received several reports of QT prolongation in patients receiving dofetilide. Approximately half of these reports were associated with serious adverse events, including torsades de pointes and other types of ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac arrest, some requiring a transfer to a higher level of care and at least one resulting in death. Some of these reports described a failure to adequately monitor electrocardiograms (EKGs) and adjust therapy in a timely manner. Others indicated concomitant use of medications contraindicated with dofetilide1 and/or those known to prolong the QT interval,2 such as azithromycin, fluconazole, hydrochlorothiazide, indapamide, levofloxacin, ondansetron, promethazine, and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim.
