Cardiotoxic and Hepatotoxic Effects of Acrivastin and Cetirizin

We studied the cardioxic and hepatotoxic effects of acrivastin and cetirizin in 30 patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Fifteen patients (11 female, 4 male; mean age 28.6 year) were randomly allocated to treatment with either placebo or acrivastin 32 mg twice daily. The 15 patients (9 female, 6 male; mean age 30.2 year) of the second group were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or cetirizin 20 mg twice daily for 4 weeks on a cross-over, single-blind basis. Holter monitoring was performed at baseline, after 3 and 30 days of administering active-drug and placebo alone. Liver enzymes were obstained before and after either therapy. Compared to placebo, we did not observe adverse cardiotoxic effects with either of the drugs. Also no changes were observed in liver enzyms after the treatment period. However, our short study period data do not exclude the possibility that acrivastin and cetirizin might still rarely be associated with cardiotoxic effects. Apart from the smallness of or study population, it is possible that 2 Holter recordings might not be sufficient to diagnose transient changes. We conclude that physicians should be alert about potential side effects of all second-generation antihistaminics.