[Antiarrhythmic agents in the prevention of sudden cardiac death].
Sudden cardiac death due to ventricular arrhythmias remains a significant problem. In most studies about 50% of all death related to coronary artery disease and heart failure are sudden and unexpected and are caused by acute fatal ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Most of the patients suffering sudden cardiac death have some kind of structural heart disease but 80% of SCD events are associated with coronary artery disease, 10-15% with dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and only small fraction with the less common disorders as valvular heart disease, ventricular dysplasia and cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis or amyloidosis. In some patients the anomaly responsible for sudden cardiac death is not structural but mainly electrical as in patients with the long QT syndrome, WPW syndrome or in patients with a proarrhythmic effect from antiarrhythmic drugs. In this review, data from clinical trials and other studies on on antiarrhythmic therapies have been evaluated in order to determine effective strategies for the prevention sudden cardiac death in high risk patients. Taken together with the mortality data routine prophylactic use of class I antiarrhythmic drugs in the patients survivors of acute myocardial infarction and patients with heart failure is associated with increased risk of death. Conversely beta-blockers are associated with significant reduction in nonfatal cardiac arrest in the short term trials and sudden cardiac death in long term trials. These benefits are likely due to relief ischemia, reduction of heart rate and maintenance favourable autonomic nervous system balance. Overall trial data on amiodarone suggests that this agent is effective in reducing the risk of death in survivors of cardiac arrest, post infarction patients, and patients with heart failure but the routine prophylactic use of amiodarone remains of uncertain efficacy. The physician who considers the use of antiarrhythmic medications in patients with ventricular arrhythmias must be aware of which arrhythmias are malignant or potentially malignant and which are benign and the decision to initiate antiarrhythmic therapy should be based on consideration of the patients absolute mortality risk.
Halawa
B
B
Katedry i Kliniki Kardiologii AM we Wrocławiu.
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents
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