Disopyramide and Inducible Arrhythmias
Authors: Marshall S. Stanton
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1991)

Letters1 September 1991Disopyramide and Inducible ArrhythmiasMarshall S. Stanton, MDMarshall S. Stanton, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-115-5-409_1 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptTo the Editors: Singh (1), in a recent review article on ventricular arrhythmias, lists as unknown the efficacy of disopyramide in suppressing ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation at programmed electrical stimulation. At least 14 studies have addressed this question. The largest study was done by Lerman and colleagues (2), who studied 50 patients with inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. These investigators found that disopyramide rendered 34% of the patients noninducible. Studies involving crossover drug testing have shown disopyramide to be equivalent to quinidine (3) and superior to mexiletine (4) for rendering ventricular tachyarrhythmias noninducible.Singh also stated that...References1. Singh B. Principles of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapy, pp. 792-795. In: Weiss JN, moderator. Ventricular arrhythmias in ischemic heart disease. Ann Intern Med. 1991;114:784-97. MedlineGoogle Scholar2. LermanWaxmanBuxton BHA. Disopyramide: evaluation of electrophysiologic effects and clinical efficacy in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 1983;51:759-64. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. RizosBrachmannLengfelder IJW. Effects of intravenous disopyramide and quinidine on normal myocardium and on the characteristics of arrhythmias: intraindividual comparison in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia. Eur Heart J. 1987;8:154-63. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. BreithardtSeipelAbendroth GLR. Comparison of the antiarrhythmic efficacy of disopyramide and mexiletine against stimulus-induced ventricular tachycardia. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1981;3:1026-37. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. StantonPrystowskyFineberg MEN. Arrhythmogenic effects of antiarrhythmic drugs: a study of 506 patients treated for ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1989;14:209-15. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar1. Nattel S. Anti-arrhythmic drug classifications: a critical appraisal of their history, present status, and clinical relevance. Drugs. 1991;41:672-701. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. TeoYusufFurberg KSC. Effect of antiarrhythmic therapy on mortality from acute myocardial infarction. Circulation. 1990;82:III-197. Google Scholar3. Scheinman M. Pro-arrhythmia and primum non nocere. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1989;16:216-7. CrossrefGoogle Scholar4. StantonPrytowskyFineberg MEN. Arrhythmogenic effects of antiarrhythmic drugs: a study of 506 patients treated for ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1989;14:209-15. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. NademaneeSinghHendrickson KBJ. Amiodarone in refractory life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Ann Intern Med. 1983;98:577-84. LinkGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 55905 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 1 September 1991Volume 115, Issue 5Page: 409-409KeywordsArrhythmiaDrugsTachycardiaVentricular fibrillationVentricular tachycardia Issue Published: 1 September 1991 PDF DownloadLoading ...