Journal of osteopathic medicine
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In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning regarding the use of azithromycin and the risk of fatal dysrhythmias after a 14-year retrospective analysis showed increased risk of cardiovascular-related death in patients who had taken a 5-day course of azithromycin compared with those who took amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, or no antibiotics. At the authors' institution, pneumonia is the most common diagnosis for which azithromycin is used as a treatment for patients who are hospitalized. ⋯ QTc interval increases were observed during inpatient azithromycin therapy for pneumonia, but were not found to be associated with cardiac dysrhythmias during hospitalization.