Comparative study on the efficacy of amiodarone and lanatoside C for the treatment of rapid atrial fibrillation

Objective To compare the efficacy of amiodarone and lanatoside C for the treatment of rapid atrial fibrillation.Methods Eighty patients with rapid atrial fibrillation were randomly divided into two groups:amiodarone group(n=40) and lanatoside C group(n=40).Amiodarone group was treated with amiodarone intravenous injection with the loading dosage of 150 mg and followed by intravenous infusion at the rate of 0.8～1.0 mg/min with an adjustable dose depending on ventricular rate.For lanatoside C group,patients free from digitalis usage within recent one week were intravenously injected with lanatoside C 0.4 mg,while those with a history of oral digitalis usage within recent one week were treated similarly(0.2 mg) and the dose was adjustable according to therapeutic effect.Results The effective rate was 82.5%(33/40) in the amiodarone group and 57.5%(23/40) in the lanatoside C group with a significant difference between the two groups(P0.05).Amiodarone group showed a significantly shorter onset time of antiarrhythmic effect as compared with lanatoside C group [(14.2±10.3) min vs.(30.5±5.1) min,P0.01].Conclusion Intravenous amiodarone for the treatment of rapid atrial fibrillation,characterized by rapid onset,safety and effectiveness,no interference to cardiac function and long therapeutic duration,is one of the choices for controlling rapid ventricular rate during atrial fibrillation under emergency condition.