Vnitr Lek 1991, 37(5):419-424

[How should ventricular arrhythmia be treated?].

J Widimský, J Bytesník: Subkatedra kardiologie ILF, Praha.

Antiarrhythmic therapy of ventricular arrhythmias in patients after myocardial infarction, even if it reduces the incidence of arrhythmias, does not influence the mortality, as demonstrated in the American CAST study where the most effective antiarrhythmic drugs class Ic, encainide and flecainide, were used. As a result of proarrhythmogenic action therapy may even enhance the risk. The authors present a classification of ventricular arrhythmias and recommend therapeutic strategies. They draw attention to the fact that the proarrhythmogenic action may develop in the early as well as in the late stage of treatment. Beta-blockers still remain the only group of drugs which markedly reduce the incidence of sudden death in patients after myocardial infarctions.