Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the cardiotoxicity associated with antifungal agents based on data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
Materials and methods: We extracted and evaluated cardiac adverse events (CAEs) linked to antifungals in the FAERS database (2004 – 2023). Signal strength for five antifungal classes was assessed using the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and information component (IC).
Results: Among 50,603 cases, triazoles, polyenes, and imidazoles showed significant associations with Torsade de Pointes (TdP)/QT prolongation (QTP), with fluconazole exhibiting the strongest link (ROR: 11.96, 95% CI: 10.62 – 13.46; IC: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.92 – 2.44). Triazoles were notably connected to arrhythmias, particularly itraconazole (ROR: 3.31, 95% CI: 2.88 – 3.79; IC: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.20 – 2.11). Fluconazole also demonstrated strong associations with conduction defects (ROR 6.44, 95% CI 5.60 – 7.39; IC 2.65, 95% CI 2.16 – 3.08) and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (ROR 9.09, 95% CI 7.84 – 10.54; IC 3.15, 95% CI 2.60 – 3.58). Notably, only itraconazole showed significant signals for cardiac failure (ROR 4.04, 95% CI 3.52 – 4.64; IC 1.96, 95% CI 1.48 – 2.40) and cardiomyopathy (ROR 6.34, 95% CI 5.04 – 7.96; IC 2.64, 95% CI 1.79 – 3.30). In contrast, echinocandins did not exhibit significant CAE signals.
Conclusion: These findings highlight that azoles and polyenes show substantial associations with CAEs, particularly for TdP/QTP and arrhythmias. Itraconazole showed a significant association with cardiac failure and cardiomyopathy, while the signal for isavuconazole was weaker than for other triazoles. No significant cardiotoxicity signals were detected for echinocandins.

*Dongnan Cao and Chunyan Wei contributed equally to this work.

Author Details

Authors

• Dongnan Cao¹*
• Chunyan Wei¹*
• Yanling Yuan^{1, 2}
• Bin Wu^{1, 2}

Departments

• ¹ Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital, and
• ² West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

Address

Dr. Bin Wu
NO. 37 Guoxue Lane, Chengdu,
Sichuan 610041, China
Email: [email protected]

Citation