Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Yahalom, Joachim
• Klein, Herman O.
• Kaplinsky, Elieser

Titel

Beta-Adrenergic Blockade as Adjunctive Oral Therapy in Patients with Chronic Atrial Fibrillation

Ist Teil von

• Chest, 1977-05, Vol.71 (5), p.592-596

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

1977

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In many patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, it is difficult to prevent an excessive ventricular rate under stress, even with high levels of digoxin in the blood. The effect of adding ß-adrenergic blockade with practolol to digoxin on the heart rate at rest and during low-grade controlled exercise was investigated in 28 patients with chronic atrial fibrillation and in ten normal control subjects who were receiving maintenance dosages (0.25 to 0.75 mg) of digoxin. In atrial fibrillation, therapy with practolol decreased the mean heart rate at rest from 99.8 beats per minute to 77.5 beats per minute (23 percent reduction; P < 0.01) and during mild exercise from 148.9 beats per minute to 105.4 beats per minute (29 percent) reduction (P < 0.001). Fifteen patients had clinically significant heart failure; therapy with practolol did not worsen it. Reversible side effects were detected in two patients. When therapy with digoxin is not sufficient to control atrial fibrillation, the addition of a ß-adrenergic blocking agent is recommended as adjunctive treatment in selected patients.