PROLONGED QT INTERVAL AND COCAINE USE

Cardiovascular consequences of cocaine use are well known, and surveil lance for them is common practice in the routine care of cocaine abuse rs. However, the cardiac electrical abnormalities that arise, although studied in animal experiments, lack correlation with human reports. T he case of a 17-year-old girl, who was admitted after a cocaine binge is reported. She was cardiologically asymptomatic, but an admission el ectrocardiogram was abnormal, with QT interval prolongation. This retu rned to normal within 24 hours of observation. The literature on the e lectrophysiologic effects of cocaine on the heart is reviewed.