The American journal of cardiology
-
Lorcainide, a new class I antiarrhythmic drug, was administered intravenously to 10 patients with a documented history of ventricular arrhythmias. Three patients had arrhythmias resistant to all conventional antiarrhythmic drugs; in all other patients except one, previous antiarrhythmic drug therapy had to be discontinued because of poor efficacy or unacceptable adverse effects. Lorcainide was injected in incremental doses of 25 mg every 15 minutes and a dose of 182.4 +/- 26.5 mg (mean +/- standard deviation) of the drug was given. ⋯ The plasma half-life ranged from 6.2 to 23.1 hours (mean 13.1 +/- 5.0). Three patients are currently being treated orally with lorcainide. These data suggest that lorcainide is an effective antiarrhythmic drug with desirable pharmacokinetic properties, and long-term definitive studies are recommended.