Letter to the Editor August 3, 2017

An Unmet Need: A Clozapine-Induced Myocarditis Screening Protocol

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Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2017;19(4):16l02083

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To the Editor: Clozapine is the only antipsychotic approved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, and clinicians should confidently be able to recognize and manage potential side effects of the medication, including myocarditis. Clozapine-induced myocarditis was reported in 1999 in a series of 15 cases (out of 8,000 patients prescribed clozapine: 0.19%), all within 3 weeks of starting clozapine. Five of these 15 patients died of clozapine-induced myocarditis.