Skip Navigation

European Heart Journal 1981 2(4):345-352;
Copyright © 1981 by the European Society of Cardiology.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by WALEFFE, A.
Right arrow Articles by KULBERTUS, H. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by WALEFFE, A.
Right arrow Articles by KULBERTUS, H. E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1981, by The European Society Of Cardiology

Electrophysiological effects of propafenone studied with programmed electrical stimulation of the heart in patients with recurrent paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia

A. WALEFFE, L. MARY-RABINE, R. DE RUBEL, D. SOYEUR, V. LEGRAND and H. E. KULBERTUS

Section of Cardiology and Electrocardiology, Institute of Medicine, University of Lieège 66, Boulevard de la Constitution, B 4020 Lieège, Belgium

Received 26 January 1981; revised 2 March 1981; .

H. E. Kulbertus, Section of Cardiology, Institute of medicine, University of Lieège, 66, Boulevard de la Constitution, B 4020 LieèBelgium

Abstract

Propafenone is an antiarrhythmic which possesses the properties of a class I agent. Its electrophysiological effects were studied with programmed electrical stimulation of the heart in 12 patients suffering from recurrent episodes of reentrant supraventricular tachycardia (atrioventricular nodal tachycardia:five cases; circus movement tachycardia involving an accessory pathway: six cases; atrial flutter and fibrillation with the Wolff-Parkinson- White syndrome: one case).Propafenone was perfused intravenously at a dose of 2 mg/kg over W min. It lengthened the transnodal conduction time, the H V interval, the VA conduction time (over the A V node) and the refractory period of right atrial muscle.The effects of the drug on accessory pathways used in the anterograde direction were measurable in four cases. Complete blockade along the bypass was seen in one instance and prolongation of the effective refractory period in the other three. In the retrograde direction, four patients out of six showed prolongation of the refractory period of the accessory pathway, after drug injection. Perfused intravenously during episodes of tachycardia, the drug interrupted the rhythm disorder in 10 out of 11 cases, but on three occasions, this was achieved by spontaneous ventricular premature beats which were not present prior to initiation of treatment.Tachycardia could still be initiated in six patients after propafenone (five out of six with circus movement tachycardia, one out of five with AV nodal tachycardia). The effects of chronic oral propafenone administration (300 mg t.d.s.) were assessed in five patients; they were similar to those observed after acute intravenous injection.Propafenone is a promising drug for the treatment of A V nodal tachycardia and might be useful for protection against high ventricular rates in patients with the preexcitation syndrome.

Key Words: Programmed electrical stimulation of the heart • antiarrhythmic agents • paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia • propafenone.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.