[Amiodarone: treatment or cause of atrial fibrillation?].
Amiodarone has long been the anti-arrhythmic drug of choice for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. We use a clinical case report to illustrate the difficulty of treating this arrhythmia, which is frequent in older adults, by explaining the physiopathology of one of its side effects: hyperthyroidism. TSH should be measured in patients with recurrent atrial fibrillation under treatment in order to exclude an amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction. In the geriatric population, the control of ventricular rate is often preferred over a conversion in sinus rhythm because the anti-arrhythmic drugs used for conversion have serious side effects.
Allali
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Département de médecine générale HUG, 121 I Gèneve. gilles.allali@hcuge.ch
Falconnet
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D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000638:Amiodarone / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000139:chemically induced*
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D000638:Amiodarone