Volume 30, Issue 174, August 2026

Mechanisms, risk factors and management of cardiovascular adverse effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics - a literature review

Przemysław Paduch^1♦, Lena Apanowicz², Patrycja Białowąs³, Zofia Bułka⁴, Klaudia Czech⁵, Klaudia Gogól-Fijał⁶, Klaudia Kapelka⁷, Dawid Kłos⁴, Duszan Leja⁵, Stanisław Malik⁴, Joanna Mazur⁸, Zuzanna Michalik⁸, Kaja Zdrojewska⁵

¹Copernicus Memorial Hospital, Łódź, Poland
²Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
³Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, Collegium Medicum – Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Poland
⁴St. Anne’s Hospital, Miechów, Poland
⁵University Hospital in Kraków, Kraków, Poland
⁶Medical Center in Gdów, Poland
⁷Provincial Specialist Hospital of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Częstochowa, Poland
⁸Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Kraków, Kraków, Poland

^♦Corresponding author
Przemysław Paduch, Copernicus Memorial Hospital, Łódź, Poland

ABSTRACT

Mental disorders represent a major burden to public health worldwide, while cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death among patients with these mental disorders. Antipsychotics and antidepressants, which are widely used in treatment, may produce a whole spectrum of cardiovascular adverse effects that cannot be overlooked. Antidepressants are mostly associated with arrhythmia, whereas antipsychotics are primarily associated with metabolic syndrome. All things considered, both medication classes show unique cardiotoxic patterns that need customized evaluation and observation. This review aims to summarise the mechanisms underlying these patterns and provide recommendations for the management of psychotropic cardiotoxicity.

Keywords: antidepressants, antipsychotics, cardiovascular adverse effects

Medical Science, 2026, 30, e143ms3928

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Published: 09 August 2026