###### Created: 2024-06-14 11:46 ###### Areas & Topics: #medicine #pharmacology ###### Note Type: #permanent ###### Connected to: [[Tachycardias]] [[Peri-Arrest Rhythms]] - Magnesium is a positive divalent cation. - It is absorbed mainly in the GI tract and re-absorbed and excreted via the kidneys. ### Treatment of [[Torsades de Pointes]] - Magnesium functions physiologically as a calcium channel blocker (as it is also a divalent cation in the same group of the periodic table). - Blocking calcium channels during depolarisation stops the early afterdepolarisations that occur in the long QT interval, which go on to cause the ectopics leading to Torsades de Pointes. ### Resources Hicks MA, Tyagi A. Magnesium Sulfate. [Updated 2023 May 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554553/ Episode 12: Why does magnesium treat torsades de pointes? - The Curious Clinicians https://curiousclinicians.com/2020/10/28/episode-11-why-does-magnesium-treat-torsades-de-pointes/