(48th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology) Azimilide, an investigational anti-arrhythmic drug, shows promise in significantly prolonging the arrhythmia-free period in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to the results of three randomized, placebo-controlled trials that included over 1,000 patients (the Azimilide Supraventricular Arrhythmia Program). In one of the three trials, the patients were randomized to receive either 50 mg, 100 mg or 125 mg of azimilide daily, or placebo. These patients were representative of the population who have atrial fibrillation, with 70 percent having some form of structural coronary disease, ischemic heart disease or congestive heart failure. The patients carried portable electrocardiographic monitors to record their heart rhythms when they experienced symptoms of an arrhythmia. In the patients receiving 125 mg of azimilide daily, the median time to first symptomatic recurrence of atrial fibrillation was 130 days, compared with 17 days in the patients receiving placebo. The 100-mg dose of azimilide prolonged the median time to first symptomatic recurrence to 41 days, more than twice that of the patients receiving placebo. In the trials, the most common side effect was headache. The investigators note that additional research is ongoing.-Edward L. C. Pritchett, m.d., et al., Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
COPYRIGHT 1999 American Academy of Family Physicians
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
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