"Z-Pak" May Cause No More Cardiovascular Deaths Than Penicillin
Patients taking azithromycin were at no greater risk for fatal cardiac arrhythmias than those taking penicillin, according to data from the Danish National health registry.
The data, collected from 1997 to 2010, showed a higher rate of cardiovascular death in those taking penicillin (propensity score-adjusted rate of 1.5 per 1000 patient-years) compared with azithromycin users (rate of 1.1 per 1000 patient-years).
Using the data, Henrik Svanstrom, MSc, and colleagues at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen calculated that 1 fewer patient taking azithromycin per million treatment episodes would have a fatal cardiovascular event than those taking penicillin.
“Azithromycin use was not associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes in a general population of young and middle-aged adults,” they concluded, warning that azithromycin may still pose an increased risk to those with preexisting cardiovascular disease.
For those without preexisting conditions, "azithromycin can be prescribed without concern about an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes," researchers concluded.
–Michael Potts
Reference:
Svanström H, Pasternak B, Hviid A. Use of Azithromycin and Death from Cardiovascular Causes. N Engl J Med 2013; 368:1704-1712
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