Thioridazine (Mellaril®)-induced Ventricular Tachycardia Controlled with an Artificial Pacemaker

Abstract

Since its introduction in 1959 as a psychotropic agent, thioridazine hydrochloride (Mellaril®) has shown a wide margin of therapeutic safety (1). Although it has antiarrhythmic properties (2), ventricular arrhythmias have occurred rarely during therapy with large doses (3, 4). In this paper, we report [1] ventricular tachycardia secondary to moderate amounts of thioridazine and [2] the successful treatment of this arrhythmia with an internal pacemaker after failure of the usual therapeutic measures. Patient E. E. S., a 50-year-old Negro man, was admitted to the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital on October 30, 1965, for evaluation of schizophrenia. He had