Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Nine patients with different supraventricular tachyarrhythmias were treated orally with amiodarone (a Class 3 antiarrhythmic drug) according to a standardized protocol. Eight patients had subjective or objective beneficial antiarrhythmic effects from the drug. The treatment was discontinued in 2 patients due to corneal opacifications. In all patients right atrial monophasic action potentials were recorded with the bipolar suction electrode technique before treatment and in 8 patients after at least 4 weeks of treatment. The atrial mono- phasic action potential was prolonged in all patients after amiodarone treatment and increased on average from 234 msec to 308 msec. The findings demonstrate the specific mode of action of the drug and the use of monophasic action potential recordings to identify patients who, theoretically, could benefitfrom antiarrhythmic drugs whose action is to delay repolarization.
Olsson et al. (Sat,) studied this question.