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Combination therapy for patients treated with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator

by Medindia Content Team on Jan 11 2006 11:08 AM

Professor Stuart J. Connolly and his team from McMaster University in their clinical trial reported in the journal JAMA that a combination of Antiarrhythmic drugs such as amiodarone combined with beta blockers such as Sotalol found to reduce the painful shocks in ventricular arrhythmia patients undergoing Implantable Cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). ICD treatment produces high voltage shocks which are used to treat fatal cases of ventricular arrhythmias, but these shocks are very painful which can be reduced by amiodarone drugs.

Beta blockers such as sotalol is also used for treating shocks, the researchers have combined both the drugs to find its combinatorial effect on reducing shocks in a randomized trial involving 412 patients who had received ICD treatment. 1st group patients were given a combination of Amiodarone and sotalol, 2nd group patients were given only amiodarone and 3rd group only sotalol. After one year of treatment with these drugs, the number of shocks experienced by these patients was determined.

Researchers found that combinatorial treatment of amiodarone and sotalol significantly reduced the risk of shock in 73% of the patients compared to 56% reduction in shock risk in patients taking either one of the drugs.

Source: Eurekalert


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