Cardiac side-effects of two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in middle-aged and elderly depressed patients

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the 'new' drugs of firs t choice for the treatment of depression in the older patient. Systematic s tudies on the effects of SSRIs on cardiac function are scarce, despite the high prevalence of cardiac disorders in the older depressed patient. This i s a study which systematically assesed cardiac function by echocardiography in middle-aged and elderly depressed patients treated with SSRI. In a doub le-blind randomized-trial, 20 patients were assigned to receive fluvoxamine 20 mg/day or fluoxetine 100 mg/day for 6 weeks. Cardiac function was asses sed by left ventricle ejection fraction, aortic now integral and early or p assive/late or active mitral inflow and electrocardiography. Neither SSRI s ignificantly affected cardiac function. Compared with patients without a hi story of myocardial infarction and/or hypertension, patients with such a hi story showed a significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fractio n. Despite our small study sample, these data indicate that both fluoxetine and fluvoxamine do not affect cardiac function adversely mt Clin Psychopha rmacol 13:263-267 (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.