Abstract:
The antimalarial drug piperaquine is associated with delayed ventricular depolarization,
causing prolonged QT interval (time taken for ventricular de-polarisation and re-polarisa-
tion). There is a lack of safety data regarding dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine (DHA/PPQ)
for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria, which has limited its use. We created a platform
where electrocardiograms (ECG) were performed in public hospitals for the safety assess-
ment of DHA/PPQ, at baseline before the use of dihydroartemisinin/piperaquine (Eurarte-
sim ® ), and on day 3 (before and after administration of the final dose) and day 7 post-
administration. Laboratory analyses included haematology and clinical chemistry. The
main objective of the ECG assessment in this study was to evaluate the effect of adminis-
tration of DHA/PPQ on QTc intervals and the association of QTc intervals with changes in
blood biochemistry, full and differential blood count over time after the DHA/PPQ adminis-
tration. A total of 1315 patients gave consent and were enrolled of which 1147 (87%) had
complete information for analyses. Of the enrolled patients 488 (42%), 323 (28%), 213
(19%) and 123 (11%) were from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Mozambique, respec-
tively. Median (lower—upper quartile) age was 8 (5–14) years and a quarter of the patients
were children under five years of age (n = 287). Changes in blood biochemistry, full and dif-
ferential blood count were temporal which remained within clinical thresholds and did not
require any intervention. The mean QTcF values were significantly higher than on day 1
when measured on day 3 before and after administration of the treatment as well as on day
7, four days after completion of treatment (12, 22 and 4 higher, p < 0.001). In all age groups
the values of QT, QTcF and QTcB were highest on day 3 after drug intake. The mean
extreme QTcF prolongation from baseline was lowest on day 3 before drug intake (33 mSD = 19) and highest on day 3 after the last dose (60 ms, SD = 31). There were 79 (7%)
events of extreme mean QTcF prolongation which were not clinically significant. Nearly a
half of them (n = 37) were grade 3 and mainly among males (33/37). Patients in Burkina
Faso, Mozambique and Tanzania had significantly lower mean QTcF than patients in
Ghana by an average of 3, 4 and 11 ms, respectively. We found no evidence that Eurarte-
sim ® administered in therapeutic doses in patients with uncomplicated malaria and no pre-
disposing cardiac conditions in Africa was associated with adverse clinically significant QTc
prolongation.
