The effects of methamphetamine on electrocardiographic parameters in male patients

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to compare the electrocardiographic parameters in patients with methamphetamine use to healthy controls.

Methods

The study is a cross-sectional case-control study. Sixty-eight patients diagnosed with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) according to DSM-5 criteria and 65 subjects in healthy control group who can match the patient group with demographic data were included in the study. Heart rate, P wave dispersion, QT dispersion, QTc and Tp-e/QTc ratios were calculated in the ECGs of all participants.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 25.60 ± 5.70 and of the control group was 27.43 ± 6.10 (p = 0.076). There was no statistically significant difference between the blood pressure, body mass index, HDL-LDL-total cholesterol and triglyceride values of the participants (p > 0.05). Although QT dispersion was 13.68 ± 9.12 in patients with methamphetamine use disorder, it was calculated as 9.08 ± 7.85 in the control group (p = 0.002). Finally, the Tp-e/QTc ratio of the patients was higher than the healthy controls (p = 0.014).

Conclusion

In our study, we found a significant deterioration in QT dispersion and Tp-e/QTc ratio in the MUD group. Therefore, it should be kept in mind that there is a risk of malignant arrhythmia in this patient group and care should be taken in terms of arrhythmic events during follow-up in this patient group.

Key points

• Patients with methamphetamine use showed significant deterioration in QTd and Tp-e/QTc

• Methamphetamine users have prolonged Tp-e/QTc ratio and QTd

• Caution should be exercised in terms of arrhythmic events in methamphetamine users

Keywords:

• Arrhythmia
• electrocardiography
• methamphetamine
• substance-related disorders

Author contributions

BD; conception, acquisition, analysis, drafting the work, writing, final approval of the version to be published, FO; design, analysis, writing, final approval of the version to be published, AB; acquisition, drafting the work, final approval of the version to be published, AA: revising it critically for important intellectual content, final approval of the version to be published.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Presentation

The summary of this study was presented as a poster presentation at the 56th National Psychiatry Congress in Turkey.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.