Parenteral antiarrhythmic drug therapy in ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation: evolving role of class III agents--focus on amiodarone.
More effective intravenous antiarrhythmic agents are required for treatment of patients with refractory malignant ventricular arrhythmias. More recently, a great deal of interest has been focused on use of intravenous amiodarone for these patients. Uncontrolled early studies showed that intravenous amiodarone was effective in 42% to 81% of treated patients. Recent large cooperative trials have documented the efficacy of intravenous amiodarone in these patients and have shown an efficacy comparable to bretylium in patients with refractory sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation.
Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco 94143-1354, USA.
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Scheinman
D000638:Amiodarone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D000638:Amiodarone