Three generations of a family with the Romano-Ward syndrome are described. Of all the affected members, only 1 was symptomatic, experiencing episodes of syncope proven to be due to polymorphous ventricular tachycardia (PMVT) induced by chlorimipramine treatment for depression. During treatment of an episode of PMVT with lidocaine, the patient developed the 'torsade de pointes' variant of ventricular tachycardia, which progressed to ventricular fibrillation and was successfully treated with electroversion. The hazards of treating these patients with commonly used drugs, the possible etiologies for the Romano-Ward syndrome and its mode of inheritance are discussed.