prajmaline and Tachycardia

In an open randomized therapeutic study, 20 patients known to have frequent ventricular premature beats (VPB) and/or ventricular pairs (VP) were treated with both 2 X 200 mg flecainide (F) and 4 X 20 mg prajmalium-bitartrate (P) for 3 months each. There was a drug-free interval of one week between the two therapy phases. 24-hour long-term ECG-registrations were carried out before the start of the therapy phases as well as 1 week, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months after the initiation of antiarrhythmic therapy. After one week, the group as a whole evidenced a VPB reduction of 94% under F and only 57% under P (p less than or equal to 0.05). The percentage of individual patients in whom there was a statistically significant VPB reduction was also higher under F than under P (65% vs. 40%). In the group as a whole, there was a VP reduction of 99% under F and 88% under P (p less than or equal to 0.05) after one week. Of the 13 individuals with frequent VP (over 16 VP/24 h), a significant reduction was seen in 77% under F and only 38% under P. The difference between the two antiarrhythmic agents registered after one week was also observed in the further course of therapy but could no longer be statistically confirmed for the ventricular pairs. An aggravation of ventricular arrhythmias was observed in 2 patients under F and in 3 under P.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Adult; Aged; Ajmaline; Cardiac Complexes, Premature; Clinical Trials as Topic; Electrocardiography; Female; Flecainide; Heart Ventricles; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prajmaline; Random Allocation; Tachycardia

120 cases of class IC antiarrhythmic overdose, including propafenone, flecainide, ajmaline and prajmaline overdose, were evaluated with respect to clinical course, therapy and outcome. Whereas drug overdose in general has an overall mortality of less than 1%, intoxication with antiarrhythmic drugs of class IC was associated with a mean mortality of 22.5%. Nausea, which occurred within the first 30 minutes after ingestion, was the earliest symptom. Spontaneous vomiting probably led to self-detoxication in about half the patients. Cardiac symptoms including bradycardia and, less frequently, tachyrhythmia occurred after about 30 minutes to 2 hours. Therapeutic measures included administration of activated charcoal, gastric lavage and a saline laxative, catecholamines, and in some patients, hypertonic sodium bicarbonate, insertion of a transvenous pacemaker and hemoperfusion. Fatal outcome was mainly due to cardiac conduction disturbances progressing to electromechanical dissociation or asystolia. Resuscitation, which had to be performed in 29 patients, was successful in only two of them. No correlation was found between fatal outcome, the type of antiarrhythmic, and ingested dose. Since a specific treatment is not available and resuscitive procedures including sodium bicarbonate and insertion of a pacemaker are of limited therapeutic value, early diagnosis and primary detoxification are most important for prevention of fatal outcome.

Topics: Ajmaline; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; Bicarbonates; Bradycardia; Drug Overdose; Flecainide; Hemoperfusion; Humans; Hypertonic Solutions; Nausea; Prajmaline; Propafenone; Resuscitation; Retrospective Studies; Sodium; Sodium Bicarbonate; Tachycardia; Vomiting

A 44-year-old woman is described in whom amiodarone, disopyramide, and quinidine, administered alone separately, induced atypical ventricular tachycardia (AVT, torsade de pointes). Following a closed mitral valvotomy, she received quinidine, 1.2 g/day, without interruption for 17 years. Because of a recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, the dose of the drug was increased to 1.4 g/day; 24 hours later AVT with syncope developed but responded promptly to atropine. Two years later, 24 hours following an increase in the dose of disopyramide from 300 to 600 mg/day, AVT with syncope occurred; isoproterenol abolished the arrhythmia instantly. Amiodarone was the third drug to induce AVT in this patient; she received 200 mg/day six days per week for six months. The dose was subsequently increased to 200 and 400 mg/day on alternate days, six days per week, and two months later AVT occurred. That time the only effective treatment was ventricular pacing.

Topics: Adult; Amiodarone; Atrial Fibrillation; Benzofurans; Disopyramide; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electrocardiography; Female; Heart Ventricles; Humans; Prajmaline; Pyridines; Quinidine; Tachycardia