THE POSSIBILITIES OF ANTIARRHYTHMIC THERAPY IN PRIMARY PREVENTION OF DEATH IN PATIENTS WITH VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS

Abstract

Highlights of primary prevention of death in patients with ventricular arrhythmias (VA) are discussed. Overview of all main clinical trials exploring various anti-arrhythmic drugs in prevention of death in patients with VA is presented. It is emphasized that in patients with organic heart disease and VA only beta-blockers and amiodarone are able to reduce mortality, while other drugs have no effect on mortality, or they even increase mortality mainly due to arrhythmogenic effect. Recent clinical studies of the cardioverter-defibrillators efficacy in these patients are presented. It is shown that the use of cardioverter defibrillators compared with pharmacotherapy is more effective in prevention of fatal outcomes.

Keywords

• ventricular arrhythmias
• antiarrhythmic drugs
• beta-blockers
• amiodaronе