Top Paper of the Year: Second Generation Antipsychotics and Schizophrenia

Second generation antipsychotics are now commonly prescribed worldwide for patients with schizophrenia. The agents in this class are known to have varying effects on the corrected QT interval, but the relative magnitude and risk posed by each agent has not been well studied.

Because QT prolongation may be a marker of drug-related cardiac mortality, Chung and Chua recently published a meta-analysis in the Journal of Psychopharmacology that compares the effects and relative risk of the most commonly prescribed of these agents.

Dr David Osser, a member of the editorial board of Psychiatric Times, has chosen this meta-analysis as one of the "Top Papers of the Year," and in the next few minutes, he will be discussing the clinical highlights . . . and what they might mean for your practice. Dr Osser is associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School at the Brockton VA Medical Center and Taunton State Hospital.

Dr Osser has no conflicts of interest, and nothing to disclose regarding any financial relationships with any pharmaceutical firms.

Dr Osser's Top Paper of the Year: Second Generation Antipsychotics and Schizophrenia

Read the abstract of the original Journal of Psychopharmacology article here:
Effects on Prolongation of Bazett's Corrected QT Interval of Seven Second-Generation Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis