Carbamazepine and amiodarone may often be used together, especially in countries where cardiomyopathies are common. In this study single doses of carbamazepine (400 mg) were given to patients with cardiac disease before and after one month of therapy with amiodarone, 400 mg daily. The kinetic profile of carbamazepine, its free fraction, and serum amiodarone, were measured at the two occasions. ...

Amiodarone has been proposed to decrease atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery. The literature was systematically reviewed for randomized trials comparing amiodarone with control for prevention of atrial fibrillation. Data were extracted on study characteristics, quality, and incidence of atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular outcomes, and length of hospitalization. Nineteen trials were inclu...

BACKGROUND Ion channels play a crucial role in the development of ischemic brain injury. Recent studies have reported that the blockade of various types of ion channels improves outcomes in experimental stroke models. Amiodarone, one of the most effective drugs for life-threatening arrhythmia, works as a multiple channel blocker and its characteristics cover all four Vaughan-Williams classes. A...

INTRODUCTION We compared the efficacy and safety of amiodarone and dronedarone in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS Five hundred and four amiodarone-naïve patients were randomized to receive dronedarone 400 mg bid (n = 249) or amiodarone 600 mg qd for 28 days then 200 mg qd (n = 255) for at least 6 months. Primary composite endpoint was recurrence of AF (including uns...

Amiodarone, a class III antiarrhytmic agent, is a benzofuran derivative containing 75 mg iodide per 200 mg tablet. During the metabolism of 200 mg of the drug approximately 6-8 mg of inorganic iodine is released into the systemic circulation. Amiodarone is very lipophilic and concentrates in various tissues and organs such as adipose tissue, skeletal muscles, myocardium, liver, lung and thyroid...

AIM Clinical use of amiodarone is associated with occasional development of torsade de pointes (TdP). However, preclinical models have failed to demonstrate the proarrhythmic potential of amiodarone. The objective of this study was to reveal and explain the pro- and anti-arrhythmic effects of acute exposure to amiodarone in an animal model. METHODS AND RESULTS Endo- and epicardial monophasic ...

The role of lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of amiodarone-induced lung disease is controversial. Increases in the percentages of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar fluid of both patients and animals with amiodarone pulmonary toxicity have been reported. To assess whether these lymphocytes are functionally activated, we measured natural killer cell activity in the lungs and blood of rats with amioda...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the efficacy of amiodarone for avoiding inappropriate therapies by implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 232 patients with structural heart disease (58+/-13 years; 78% males) who underwent an initial ICD implantation were retrospectively investigated to compare baseline characteristics and event rates of inappropriate IC...

The effect of amiodarone on the expression of myosin isoforms and the growth of neonatal rat cardiac muscle cells in culture was studied by native gel electrophoresis, assays of DNA and protein synthesis, and electron microscopy. Cardiac myocytes exposed to amiodarone in the absence of triiodothyronine (T3) showed predominant V1. When cardiac myocytes were exposed to amiodarone in the presence ...

OBJECTIVES The present work was designed to test the effects of amiodarone therapy on action potential characteristics of the three cell types observed in human left ventricular preparations. BACKGROUND The electrophysiologic basis for amiodarone's exceptional antiarrhythmic efficacy and low proarrhythmic profile remains unclear. METHODS We used standard microelectrode techniques to investi...