Treatment Of Arrhythmias In Patients Research Articles

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias in Patients with Familial Long QT Syndrome (LQTS); Long-Term Results

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias in Patients with Familial Long QT Syndrome (LQTS); Long-Term Results

Verapamil therapy in the treatment of supraventricular arrhythmias following open heart surgery.

Certain general conclusions suggest themselves on the basis of our extensive experience with treating arrhythmias in patients following open heart surgery, our specific results with verapamil therapy in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter in patients following open heart surgery, and the results of verapamil therapy administered in other groups of patients. First, verapamil can provide highly effective, rapid, and safe control of the ventricular response in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter in patients following open heart surgery. Usually, it should be used in concert with digitalis therapy. Second, extrapolation from the data of others suggests that verapamil has an important role to play in the treatment of most other supraventricular arrhythmias in patients following open heart surgery, particularly if temporary wire electrodes are not available.

High Pacemaker Implantation Rate Following “Cardiogenic Neurology”

This paper gives data on symptomatic patients with bradycardia found not at random but as the result of greatly expanded facilities for recognition of arrhythmias. The incidence of patients with symptomatic bradycardia was very high. Most patients had intermittent arrhythmias and diagnosis was often only possible after long-term ECG screening. Symptoms were as severe, and relief of symptoms with treatment was as good, as in pacemaker-treated patients described by others. Our conclusion is that indications for arrhythmia screening should be increased, as the diagnosis and treatment are very worthwhile. We refer to the systematized active diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias in patients with cerebral symptoms as cardiogenic neurology.

Clinical trial of intravenous dextro-alprenolol in cardiac arrhythmias

D-alprenolol, in doses of 50–170 mg, was given intravenously to 23 patients with various cardiac arrhythmias. Seven patients had acute myocardial infarction, ten patients had chronic ischemic heart disease with rhythm disturbances, three were in congestive failure and one had myocarditis. The ventricular arrhythmias were abolished in several patients. In some of the patients with compromised myocardial function, the blood pressure dropped markedly and heart rate slowed to a degree requiring treatment. These effects have been seen after other β-adrenergic blocking agents, and were considered to be due mainly to the cardiodepressive action of D-alprenolol in the doses used. Because of these potentially dangerous side effects, and because little benefit was apparent over other drugs, it was concluded that D-alprenolol should not be used for the treatment of arrhythmias in patients who have myocardial damage.