A comparison of electrophysiologic testing with Holter monitoring to predict antiarrhythmic-drug efficacy for ventricular tachyarrhythmias

Article Abstract:

Holter monitoring may be as effective as electrophysiologic study for predicting the success of treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with ventricular tachycardia. Ventricular tachycardia is an rapid heart beat that originates in the upper chambers of the heart. Holter monitoring was used to predict the effectiveness of six antiarrhythmic drugs in 244 patients with ventricular tachycardia, and electrophysiologic study was used in 242 patients. Efficacy of antiarrhythmic drugs was predicted in 77% of the patients evaluated using Holter monitoring, compared with 45% of the patients evaluated using electrophysiologic study. Of the 296 patients who were treated with drugs predicted to be effective, 46 died and 150 recurrences of arrhythmia occurred over a six-year follow-up period. There was no significance difference in the number of deaths or recurrences of arrhythmia among the patients from the two different evaluation groups.

Evaluation, Ambulatory electrocardiography

---

A comparison of electrophysiologically guided antiarrhythmic drug therapy with beta-blocker therapy in patients with symptomatic, sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias

Article Abstract:

Electrophysiologically-guided antiarrhythmic drug therapy may not be more effective than a beta-blocker for treatment of patients with sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia, or rapid heartbeat. Electrophysiologically-guided antiarrhythmic drug therapy involves the use of programmed electrical stimulation to induce arrhythmia and to evaluate the efficacy of different antiarrhythmic drugs. Of 155 patients with sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia, 61 were treated with electrophysiologically-guided drug therapy and 54 were treated with the beta-blocker metoprolol without testing. During an average follow-up period of 23 months, 44 patients suffered recurrent non-fatal arrhythmia, and 27 died suddenly from cardiac causes. Forty-six percent of these patients were in the electrophysiologically-guided drug therapy group and 48% were in the metoprolol treatment group.

Usage, Metoprolol

---

A comparison of seven antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias

Article Abstract:

Sotalol may be more effective and safer than other antiarrhythmic drugs for the treatment of ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Ventricular tachyarrhythmia is an abnormal rapid heart beat that originates in the upper chambers of the heart. Among 486 patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmia who were treated with seven different antiarrhythmic drugs, 296 received long-term treatment with a drug that was predicted to be effective. Of the patients in whom drug efficiency was evaluated using electrophysiologic testing, sotalol was predicted to be effective approximately twice as often as the other drugs. Patients treated with sotalol were less likely to die from arrhythmia or other cardiac causes than those treated with other drugs. Individuals treated with sotalol were also less likely to have an adverse reaction compared to those treated with other drugs.

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: A comparison of surgical and medical therapy for atrial septal defect in adults. Right ventricular infarction as an independent predictor of prognosis after acute inferior myocardial infarction
• Abstracts: Salary vs. solo: weighing the costs and benefits of a regular paycheck. Let the record show..
• Abstracts: The secretion of fluid by renal cysts from patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Volume progression in polycystic kidney disease
• Abstracts: Association of two loci on chromosome 2q with nodal osteoarthritis. Radiographic assessment of patellofemoral osteoarthritis
• Abstracts: Ultrasonographic fetal spleen measurements in red blood cell-alloimmunized pregnancies. Clinical value of an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity assay in the management of RhD alloimmunization

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.