Efficacy and electrophysiologic effects of oral sotalol in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia caused by coronary artery disease

• Published in: The American heart journal Vol. 123; no. 1; pp. 82 - 89
• Main Authors: Kus, Teresa, Campa, Maria Aurora, Nadeau, Réginald, Dubuc, Marc, Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm, Shenasa, Mohammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Mosby, Inc 01.01.1992; Elsevier
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Antiarythmic agents; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; Cardiovascular system; Coronary Artery Disease - complications; Coronary Artery Disease - physiopathology; Electrocardiography - drug effects; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heart Ventricles; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Myocardial Infarction - complications; Myocardial Infarction - physiopathology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Sotalol - administration & dosage; Sotalol - pharmacology; Sotalol - therapeutic use; Tachycardia - etiology; Tachycardia - physiopathology; Tachycardia - prevention & control; Treatment Outcome; Human; Chemotherapy; Treatment; Arrhythmia; Treatment efficiency; Oral administration; Cardiovascular disease; Paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia; Coronary heart disease; Antiarrhythmia agent; Excitability disorder; Beta blocking agent
• ISSN: 0002-8703; 1097-6744
• DOI: 10.1016/0002-8703(92)90750-P

The efficacy of oral sotalol in preventing sustained ventricular tachycardia induction by invasive electrophysiological testing was assessed in 22 patients (60 ± 9 years) with prior myocardial intarction. Programmed stimulation consisted of two basic drives followed by up to three extrastimuli at two right ventricular sites. At baseline, sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia was inducible in all patients. With sotalol (360 ± 172 mg/day), it was no longer inducible in 10 patients; in 12 others, it remained inducible and its cycle length was only minimally prolonged (322 ± 42 to 345 ± 44 msec, p < 0.05). Sotalol markedly prolonged sinus cycle length, uncorrected QT interval, and right ventricular effective and functional refractory periods, but had little effect on ventricular conduction time either in sinus rhythm or with right ventricular pacing. There was no significant difference in drug dose or in electrophysiologic effect of drug that related to efficacy, nor was there any correlation between drug-induced prolongation of ventricular tachycardia cycle length and its effects. Six patients received oral sotalol over the long term without spontaneous recurrence of ventricular tachycardia (follow-up: 23 ± 18 months). These results demonstrate that sotalol is effective (45%) against sustained ventricular tachycardia induction at moderate doses and is well tolerated over a long term in the setting of remote myocardial infarction. However, its electrophysiologic effects as measured at invasive testing are not predictive of efficacy against ventricular tachycardia induction.