OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of azimilide, a class III antiarrhythmic drug, in reducing the frequency of symptomatic arrhythmia recurrences in patients with atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter or both. BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation is an increasingly common disorder of the heart rhythm, and most patients with this problem are identified because they ha...

Experimental studies show that detrimental effects of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury can be attenuated by hyperoxic preconditioning in normal hearts, however, there are few studies about hyperoxia effects in diseased myocardium. The present study was designed to assess the cardioprotective effects of hyperoxia pretreatment (≥ 95 % O2) in acute diabetic rat hearts. Normal and one week acute d...

This article reviews current knowledge about lidocaine, with reference to its chemistry, metabolism, electrophysiology, hemodynamic effects, antiarrhythmic uses, pharmacokinetics, and side effects. The critical importance of blood levels and their relation to lidocaine's antiarrhythmic and toxic effects is noted, with special emphasis given to patients with compromised clearance due to heart fa...

The antiarrhythmic efficacy of the novel ultrarapid delayed rectifier potassium current (IKur) blocker (2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexyl) diphenylphosphine oxide (DPO-1) was compared with efficacies of the standard class III rapidly activating component of delayed rectifier potassium current (IKr) blockers [+-N-[1'-(6-cyano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-napthalenyl)-3,4-dihydro-4-hydroxyspiro[2H-1-benzopy...

OBJECTIVE It has been well established that class III antiarrhythmic drugs can also induce ventricular arrhythmias. Marked changes in the QT interval are correlated with an increased dispersion of repolarization which is an important factor for the induction of ventricular arrhythmias. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of sotalol alone and in combination with MgSO4 and...

The present study was designed to investigate the central nervous system activity of 23 novel phenylpiperazine pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives. These compounds had marked antiarrhythmic and hypotensive activities and revealed affinity for α1- and α2-adrenoceptors. These effects may be related to their α-adrenolytic properties. We assessed their antidepressant-like effect in the forced swimming tes...