Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (pAF) has a class 1 indication in patients who have not tolerated or responded to antiarrhythmic medications. Antiarrhythmic medications (AAM) are, however, limited not only by modest efficacy, but also by significant side effects. Discontinuation rates for AAM range from 11-40% in trials. The RAAFT-2 trial evalua...

THE action of antiarrhythmic drugs on heart muscle has been studied extensively by electrophysiologic and biochemical technics. There is general agreement that a common property of the antiarrhythmic drugs now in clinical use is the ability to decrease the excitability of the myocardium. There are many possible ways in which such an action could be brought about. One suggestion is that such dru...

BACKGROUND In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), antiarrhythmic drug therapy currently plays a greater role in maintaining sinus rhythm after cardioversion than it does in converting AF to sinus rhythm. Amiodarone is the most effective antiarrhythmic agent for maintaining sinus rhythm after cardioversion in patients with AF. However, its pharmacokinetics is complex; the drug interacts with...

Fragmented cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was isolated by differential centrifugation from canine myocardium. The effects of propranolol, quinidine, lidocaine (lignocaine) and tetracaine (amethocaine) on calcium uptake in sarcoplasmic reticulum in vitro were then measured. All the drugs are antiarrhythmic agents with local anesthetic activity, but propranolol and quinidine are known also to hav...

A comparison of the antiarrhythmic effects of 2 mg/kg of mepivacaine and lignocaine, as measured by elevations in the end-diastolic ventricular stimulation threshold (EDVST), was made in open-chest dogs. Both mepivacaine and lignocaine increased the EDVST significantly. The peak elevation of EDVST occurred within 2 minutes after injection and averaged 0.013 mA (13 ,uA) with mepivacaine and 0.02...