Comparison of converting efficacy and safety of intravenous ibutilide and propafenone in Chinese patients with atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter

Objective: To compare converting efficacies of intravenous ibutilide and propafenone on atrial fibrillation(AF) and artial flutter(AFL) in Chinese patients in a prospective study.Methods: We investigated 200 AF and AFL patients treated with ibutilide(1 mg,or 0.01 mg·kg-1 if body weight 60 kg,iv) or propafenone(70 mg,iv,repeated if necessary) in the randomized and controlled study.A second infusion was performed 10 min later if first infusion failed.Results: Overall,ibutilide had a higher cardioversion rate(55%,55/100) than propafenone(21%,21/100).Ibutilide converted more patients to sinus rhythm in patients with either AF [50%(40/79) vs 24%(21/90)] or AFL [71%(15/21) vs 0%].The RR intervals were not statistically different between AF and AFL during conversion.One torsade de pointes(TdP,1%) developed in ibutilide group and was converted by direct current electrical conversion.Conclusion: Ibutilide is more effective than propafenone in converting AF or AFL in Chinese patients.Adverse events are not significantly different between ibutilide and propafenone.