Moreover all the anti-arrhythmic agents that are used in treatment of AF were potentially pro-arrhythmic especially in patients with coronary artery disease and structurally abnormal heart .
Although atrial fibrillation ( AF ) is the most common sustained arrhythmia seen during daily cardiovascular physician practice , its management remained a challenge for cardiology physician as there was no single anti-arrhythmic agents proved to be effective in converting atrial fibrillation and kept its effectiveness in maintaining sinus rhythm over long term .
Some of these drugs also have serious non cardiac side effects that limit its long term use in the management of atrial fibrillation .
Several new and investigational anti-arrhythmic agents are emerging but data supporting their effectiveness and safety are still limited .
A randomized, controlled trial of RSD1235, a novel anti-arrhythmic agent, in the treatment of recent onset atrial fibrillation.
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of intravenous RSD1235 in terminating  recent onset atrial fibrillation ( AF ) .  BACKGROUND Anti-arrhythmic drugs currently available to terminate AF have limited efficacy and safety . RSD1235 is a novel atrial selective anti-arrhythmic drug . METHODS This was a phase II , multi-centered , r and omized , double-blinded , step-dose , placebo-controlled , parallel group study . Fifty-six patients from 15 U.S. and Canadian sites with AF of 3 to 72 h duration were r and omized to one of two  RSD1235  dose groups or to placebo . The two RSD1235 groups were RSD-1 ( 0.5 mg/kg followed by 1 mg/kg ) or RSD-2 ( 2 mg/kg followed by 3 mg/kg ) , by intravenous infusion over 10 min ; a second dose was given only if AF was present . The primary end point was termination of AF during infusion or within 30-min after the last infusion . Secondary end points included the number of patients in sinus rhythm at 0.5 , 1 , and 24 h post-last infusion and time to conversion to sinus rhythm . RESULTS The RSD-2 dose showed significant differences over placebo in : 1 ) termination of AF ( 61 % vs. 5 % , p < 0.0005 ) ; 2 ) patients in sinus rhythm at 30 min ( 56 % vs. 5 % , p < 0.001 ) ; 3 ) sinus rhythm at 1 h ( 53 % vs. 5 % , p = 0.0014 ) ; and 4 ) median time to conversion to SR ( 14 vs. 162 min , p = 0.016 ) . There were no serious adverse events related to RSD1235 . CONCLUSIONS RSD1235 , a new atrial-selective anti-arrhythmic agent , appears to be efficacious and safe for converting recent onset AF to sinus rhythm
Moreover all the anti-arrhythmic agents that are used in treatment of AF were potentially pro-arrhythmic especially in patients with coronary artery disease and structurally abnormal heart .
Although atrial fibrillation ( AF ) is the most common sustained arrhythmia seen during daily cardiovascular physician practice , its management remained a challenge for cardiology physician as there was no single anti-arrhythmic agents proved to be effective in converting atrial fibrillation and kept its effectiveness in maintaining sinus rhythm over long term .
Some of these drugs also have serious non cardiac side effects that limit its long term use in the management of atrial fibrillation .
Several new and investigational anti-arrhythmic agents are emerging but data supporting their effectiveness and safety are still limited .