It should not be used in people with sick sinus syndrome, long QT syndrome, cardiogenic shock, uncontrolled heart failure, asthma or a related bronchospastic condition, or people with serum potassium below 4 meq/L. It should only be used in people with a second and third degree AV block if a functioning pacemaker is present.Since sotalol is removed from the body through the kidneys, it should not be used in people with a creatinine clearance rate below 40 mL/min. It is also excreted in breast milk, so mothers should not breastfeed while taking sotalol.Since sotalol prolongs the QT interval, the FDA recommends against using it in conjunction with other medications that prolong the QT interval. Studies have found serious side effects to be more common in individuals also taking digoxin, possibly because of pre-existing heart failure in those people. As with other beta blockers, it may interact with calcium channel blockers, catecholamine-depleting drugs, insulin or antidiabetic drugs, beta2-adrenergic agonists, and clonidine.Some evidence suggests that sotalol should be avoided in the setting of heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (resulting in the heart squeezing little blood out into the circulation with each pump) due to an increased risk of death. Adverse effects
Over 10% of oral sotalol users experience fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, headache, weakness, nausea, shortness of breath, bradycardia (slow heart rate), a sensation of the heart beating too hard, fast, or irregularly, or chest pain.
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type IV (CDA IV) has been described with typical morphologic features of CDA II but a negative acidified-serum test. Presentation
CDA type IV is characterized by mild to moderate splenomegaly. Hemoglobin is very low and patients are transfusion dependent. MCV is normal or mildly elevated. Erythropoiesis is normoblastic or mildly to moderately megaloblastic. Nonspecific erythroblast dysplasia is present. Genetics
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type IV is an autosomal dominant inherited red blood cell disorder characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis and hemolysis resulting in anemia. Circulating erythroblasts and erythroblasts in the bone marrow show various morphologic abnormalities. Affected individuals with CDAN4 also have increased levels of fetal hemoglobin. Diagnosis
Treatment
Treatment consists of frequent blood transfusions and chelation therapy. Potential cures include bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy. See also
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia
Thalassemia
Hemoglobinopathy
List of hematologic conditions

References
Further reading
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia at the US National Institutes of Health Home Genetic Reference]


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