Clinical Experience of Intravenous Amiodarone in Terminating Congestive Heart Failure with Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmia

Objective:To determine the efficacy and safety of intravenous amiodarone in term inating congestive heart failure(CHF)with malignant ventricular arrhyth mia Methods:Twenty six patients(17 males a nd 9 females)having CHF with ventricular tachycardia(VT)and/or ventricu lar fibril lation(VF)cardiac function(NYHA)of class Ⅱ or Ⅲ and left ventricular ejection frac tion (LVEF) of 0.24±0.07(0.21-0.45)were en rolled in this study Intravenous loading dose of 3-5 mg/kg of amiodarone was int ially given,and followed by 0.75-1.00 mg /min infusion If VT and(or)VF was uncontr olled,additional bolus of 75-150 mg was repeated every other 30min Oral amiodaro ne of 600-800mg daily was required simul taneously Results:The amiodarone total dose was 1248.0±135.4mg(1 156-2 184mg) The disappearance of arrhythmias was found in 69 %at 24 hours and 100% at 56 h ours All patents had an improved LVEF(0.33±0.09) Conclusion:Intravenous amiodarone has a high efficacy and safety f or CHF with VT and/or VF The dosage of a miodarone varies according to individual s Long term oral of amiodarone is effect ive for the prevention of arrhythmic events