Posted by linkadge on June 27, 2007, at 14:50:44
The following report also describes amantadine as a risk factor for developing cardiac valve damage, in addition to the two recently withdrawn dopamine agonists, (permax, and cabergoline)
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/AcuteCoronarySyndrome/dh/4801
What I found interesting about the report was that (essentially in fine print) the study stated that while the three drugs (amantadine, permax, and cabergoline) produced the most significant cardiac dammage, even non ergot derived drugs (mirapex etc) were associated with some cardiac restructuring.
"The unexpected finding of a significantly greater mitral tenting area in the non-ergot group than in the controls could be evidence of a weak agonist effect by this entire drug class of serotonin receptors that is not sufficient to produce the valve damage observed in patients taking ergot-derived drugs, the researchers said. The mean mitral tenting area in the non-ergot group was similar to that observed in patients in the ergot group who had grade 0 to 1 valve regurgitation"
So, even the weak 5-ht2b agonist effect of mirapex for instance, caused some cardiac restructure.
I personally think the SSRI's are the next to be implicated. I wouldn't be suprised if all the SSRI's are pulled in the next 5 years.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:766225
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070622/msgs/766225.html