title: Potassium loading as adjunct treatment of repetitive ventricular arrhythmias.
abstract: To evaluate potassium supplementation as adjunct therapy for ventricular arrhythmias, consecutive normokalemic patients undergoing in-hospital antiarrhythmic therapy for ventricular tachycardia were randomly assigned to one of four groups: intravenous potassium chloride (Group I, 44 patients) v intravenous saline (Group II, 48 patients); and oral potassium chloride capsules (Group III 50 patients) v no additional treatment (Group IV, 47 patients). All groups underwent serial serum potassium determinations and 24-hour electrocardiographic monitoring. Analysis revealed no significant differences in ventricular ectopic activity among groups, and there was no significant association between serum potassium level and incidence of ventricular arrhythmias. We conclude that normokalemic patients undergoing antiarrhythmic therapy for ventricular tachycardia benefit little from concomitant short-term potassium supplementation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio 44195.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Detrano
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leatherman
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Morant
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Castle
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007008:Hypokalemia / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D011188:Potassium