Ranitidina y alteraciones electrocardiográficas en niños

Ranitidine, an H2 antagonist is a very common drug for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and peptic ulcer diseases, in adults and children. 30% of the drug is metabolized at the liver via P-4503A4 cytochrome system; 50% is excreted by kidneys. Some reports in the literature have associated the presence of cardiac arrhythmia (bradycardia, A-V blockade) with the use of ranitidine (intravenous) in adults. However it is not clear whether the presence of this abnormal electrocardiogram (EKG) finding can be present with oral use of ranitidine at normal doses for children. Aim: To identify EKG changes in infants taking 8-10 mg/kg/day of ranitidine; a cohort of 30 infants with GER without any previous treatment was studied. An EKG basal and after 30 days with continuous ranitidine administration was