Intravenous Propafenone for Termination of Reentrant Supraventricular Tachycardia

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Abstract
To assess the antiarrhythmic efficacy of intravenous propafenone, 20 patients with inducible sustained supraventricular tachycardia received propafenone, 2 mg/kg body weight, or placebo in a double-blind, randomized, crossover study. three patients had intra-atrial reentrant tachycaredia, 3 had atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, and 14 had atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia associated with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Terminationof supraventricular tachycardia occurred in 15 of the 20 patients receiving propafenone but 0 of the 11 patients receiving placebo (p < 0.01). Propafenone prolonged refractoriness and slowed conduction of the atrium, the atrioventricular node, and accessory atrioventricular bypass tract, and these effects provided antiarrhythmic action to halt tachycardia. No adverse effects were observed in any patient. We conclude that intravenous propafenone is safe and effective in the acute treatment of various forms of reentrant supraventricular tachycardia.