title: Intravenous atenolol for ventricular arrhythmias.
abstract: To determine the efficacy and safety of intravenous atenolol in patients with frequent and repetitive benign or potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias, 40 patients received an open-label, single dose of 10 mg of intravenous atenolol, given in aliquots of 2.5 mg every 10 minutes. Twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring was performed on the day before, the day of, and the day after infusion of atenolol. A full 10-mg dose was given to 37 patients; asymptomatic bradycardia developed in 3 patients, and they were not included in the efficacy analysis. A single 10-mg dose of intravenous atenolol was effective rapidly in suppressing ventricular arrhythmias, with peak suppression occurring 1 to 2 hours after infusion and significant suppression lasting for 7 hours. Only 1 patient had symptoms (lightheadedness), plus hypotension lasting 45 minutes after the infusion was concluded. The mean plasma level of atenolol was 231 ng/ml 10 minutes after the infusion, with individual patient values of 148 to 457 ng/ml. Thus, a single intravenous dose of 10 mg of atenolol can significantly reduce the frequency of ventricular premature complexes and ventricular tachycardia within the first hour after infusion; suppression can last for 7 hours. Atenolol is well tolerated.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001262:Atenolol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001262:Atenolol