Vascular Health and Risk Management Open Access Full Text Article A commentary on “A young man with acute dilated cardiomyopathy associated with methylphenidate” open access to scientific and medical research Dovepress C O M M e n T A R y Ahmad Ghanizadeh1,2 1Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz, Iran Correspondence: Ahmad Ghanizadeh Associate Prof. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz, Iran Tel +98 711 627 9319 Fax +98 711 627 3070 email ghanizad@sina.tums.ac.ir With reference to the report by Nymark and colleagues,1 there are some points that should be highlighted. There is certainly a debate over whether methylphenidate is truly safe regarding possible cardiac side effects. However, the patient had taken quetiapine for 17 months. The association of cardiomyopathy and methylphenidate was high- lighted while, as the authors mention, quetiapine may be related to cardiomyopathy. The 18-year-old boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had taken quetiapine 900 mg/day for the long period of 17 months while he was suffering from ADHD and overweight. It is clear that the authors visited the patient for the first time in their hospital while he had cardiogenic shock, oilguria, and raised liver enzymes. There is limited research available on quetiapine. One of the side effects of these types of antipsychotics is metabolic syndrome that might increase cardiovascular events. So, in addition to the possible association of cardiomyopathy and methylpheni- date, the adverse events of antipsychotics such as weight gain and metabolic syndrome should be carefully considered, especially in children and adolescents.2,3 References J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(Suppl 4):9–14. 2008;22(48):43–48. 1. Nymark TB, Hovland A, Bjørnstad H, Nielsen EW. A young man with acute dilated cardiomyopathy associated with methylphenidate. Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(2):477–479. 2. Findling RL. Atypical antipsychotic treatment of disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolescents. 3. Jones M, Jones A. The effect of antipsychotic medication on metabolic syndrome. Nurs Stand. Vascular Health and Risk Management Publish your work in this journal Vascular Health and Risk Management is an international, peer- reviewed journal of therapeutics and risk management, focusing on concise rapid reporting of clinical studies on the processes involved in the maintenance of vascular health; the monitoring, prevention and treatment of vascular disease and its sequelae; and the involvement of metabolic disorders, particularly diabetes. This journal is indexed on PubMed Central and MedLine. The manuscript management system is completely online and includes a very quick and fair peer-review system, which is all easy to use. Visit http://www.dovepress.com/ testimonials.php to read real quotes from published authors. Submit your manuscript here: http://www.dovepress.com/vascular-health-and-risk-management-journal Dovepress submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Dovepress Vascular Health and Risk Management 2009:5 525 © 2009 Ghanizadeh, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd.This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. 525