Efficacy of low dose sotalol on ventricular arrhythmia

AimTo observe the efficacy and safety of the low dose(120~160mg · d -1 )sotalol on ventricular arrhythmia.MethodsTotally 60 patients,age 21~70 years old with ventricular premature complexes(PVCs) enters the study.The initial dose was 120 mg · d -1 .After two weeks,the dosage was titrated to 160 mg · d -1 for those who had not reached the responsible criteria.Holter monitoring was used to assess the arrhythmias.The treatment duration was 2~4 weeks.Results(1)The effective rate sotalol (120 mg · d -1 ) with two weeks treatment was 45%(n=27).Patients with treatment failure received sotalol(160mg · d -1 )for another two weeks,the effective rate was 20%(n=12).Therefore,the total effective rate was 63%(n=39).(2)For 36 patients who had treatment failure history by using more than two kinds of antiarrhythmia drugs,the effctive rate reached 58.3%.(3) Blood pressure and heart rate decreased significantly in the first week (P0.01),but there was no further significance in the following weeks. QTc interval increased after using sotalal in the first week ,and it increased longer in the second week,but is has no tendency to prolong with persistent using or dosage increasing.QTc interval0.50 ms. ConclusionLow dose sotalol was effective and safe in the treatment with PVCs and proarrhythmic effect was rarely observed.