Effect of paroxetine on the electrocardiogram

Abstract

The electrocardiographic effects of paroxetine have been studied. High speed electrocardiograms were recorded on 20 patients with major depression before and after 4 weeks' treatment with either paroxetine or placebo. No patient had a history or clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease. The ECG measurements were made blind to patient, treatment and treatment interval. No significant changes in heart rate, PR, and QTc intervals or in T-wave height were found after treatment with active drug or placebo but there was a small increase from 81 to 85 ms in the QRS width in the paroxetine group which was significantly different from the small decrease that occured in the placebo group. No significant changes in blood pressure were noted. The findings show that paroxetine has no clinically relevant cardiac effects when given in therapeutic doses to relatively young healthy subjects.