Cardiovascular Monitoring of Children and Adolescents With Heart Disease Receiving Medications for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young Congenita

Over the past decade, concerns have been raised regardingthe safety of a variety of psychotropic medications in children and adolescents, the appropriate selection of patients for therapy, and the indications for cardiovascular monitor-ing. In 1999, concerns over potential cardiovascular effects of psychotropic drugs, especially tricyclic antidepressants1,2 but including stimulants, prompted the American Heart Associ-ation (AHA) scientific statement “Cardiovascular Monitoring of Children and Adolescents Receiving Psychotropic Drugs.”3 At that time, no specific cardiovascular monitoring was recommended for the use of stimulant medications. Since that time, a constellation of circumstances have come to-gether, necessitating a second look at this complicated issue. These circumstances include an increased awareness of the presence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the general population and in children with preexistin