No other antiarrhythmic showed a significant effect on mortality compared with controls .
Class IA , IC , and III drugs are effective in maintaining sinus rhythm but increase adverse effects , and class IA drugs may increase mortality
BACKGROUND A variety of antiarrhythmic drugs have been used to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation after conversion to sinus rhythm .
We performed a systematic review to determine the effect of long-term treatment with those drugs on death , embolisms , adverse effects , and atrial fibrillation recurrence .
[A comparison between amiodarone and disopyramide in a delayed-release formulation in the prevention of recurrences of symptomatic atrial fibrillation].
In order to compare the efficacy in preventing recurrencies of symptomatic atrial fibrillation of amiodarone ( A. ) and slow release disopyramide ( D.RET . ) , 76 consecutive patients with recent onset atrial fibrillation ( 1 to 24 hrs . ) were enrolled . In 20 ( 26 % ) conversion to sinus rhythm was obtained by electrical cardioversion , and in 56 ( 74 % ) by oral quinidine loading . Forty-one patients ( group A ) were assigned at r and om to treatment with D.RET . ( 250 mg twice daily ) and 35 patients ( group B ) to amiodarone treatment ( 1200 mg daily for 10 days , and subsequently 200 mg daily ) . The two groups were similar as to age , sex and cardiac pathology . Patients were followed as to clinical condition , st and ard and dynamic ECG after one and three months and every three months subsequently for an average of 13.2 months ( group A ) and 14.1 months ( group B ) . Six group A patients ( 14 % ) were excluded from follow-up on account of side effects which arose during the first week of treatment . Crises of symptomatic atrial fibrillation occurred in 20 patients of group A ( 57 % ) and in 11 ( 32 % ) group patients ; this difference is statistically significant ( p less than 0.05 ) . Four ( 10 % ) group A patients stopped taking the drug due to side effects of an anticholinergic type , and three ( 8.5 % ) patients developed hyperthyroidism during follow-up . The authors therefore come to the conclusion that amiodarone is more effective than slow-release disopyramide in preventing recurrencies of atrial fibrillation ; besides untoward side effects are less frequent with amiodarone
No other antiarrhythmic showed a significant effect on mortality compared with controls .
Class IA , IC , and III drugs are effective in maintaining sinus rhythm but increase adverse effects , and class IA drugs may increase mortality
BACKGROUND A variety of antiarrhythmic drugs have been used to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation after conversion to sinus rhythm .
We performed a systematic review to determine the effect of long-term treatment with those drugs on death , embolisms , adverse effects , and atrial fibrillation recurrence .