Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Is Cardiotoxicity a Concern
The SARS‐Cov‐2 viral pandemic causing COVID‐19 disease begs for rapid and innovative treatments. In addition to flu‐like respiratory symptoms, acute cardiac manifestations include cardiac injury, shock and arrhythmia. Several pharmacological therapies have been suggested including repurposing of existing drugs such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, sometimes co‐administered with azithromycin. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were developed in the World War II era for treatment and prophylaxis of malaria, long before modern drug safety surveillance programs.