title: Pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drugs for the clinician--medical emergencies and chronic treatment.
abstract: Optimal treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs poses difficulties both in acute and chronic treatment situations. Knowledge of clinical pharmacology is helpful in both respects in order to obtain rapid antiarrhythmic activity with minimal side-effects. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of antiarrhythmic drugs show marked interpatient variations which are influenced by age and disease. Therapeutic monitoring of drug concentrations is therefore helpful to ensure optimum therapeutic levels, to reduce the risk of side-effects, to detect non-compliance, and to define therapeutic failure.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents