Lidoflazine as an antiarrhythmic drug.

Since Schaper and his coworkers1-3 reported an excellent coronary vasodilating action of lidofiazine, a drug originally prepared in Janssen Pharmaceutica Institute, on conscious dogs with a previously implanted electromagnetic flow meter, the antianginal effect of the drug has been clinically investigated in our own and other laboratories. Its usual dose is 90 or 120mg per day. Recently, we administered a large dose of lidoflazine (90mg three times a day) to a patient with atrial fibrillation due to coronary heart disease, and a reversion to sinus rhythm was unexpectedly recognized. Since there has been no report on such a defibrillating effect of this drug, and since a chemical structure of lidofiazine is similar to that of lidocain which has been recommended for clinical use as an effective antiarrhythmic drug,4-7 we think it adequate to evaluate the effect of lidofiazine in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and of other arrhythmias. The present paper is a preliminary report of the results obtained up to the present. Patients with established atrial fibrillation were divided into two groups according to the procedure of medication. The first group consisted of seven