Superiority of Ibutilide (A New Class III Agent) Over
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568 Heart 1998;79:568–575 Superiority of ibutilide (a new class III agent) over DL-sotalol in converting atrial flutter and atrial Heart: first published as 10.1136/hrt.79.6.568 on 1 June 1998. Downloaded from fibrillation M A Vos, S R Golitsyn, K Stangl, M Y Ruda, L Van Wijk, J D Harry, K T Perry, P Touboul, G Steinbeck, HJJWellens, for the Ibutilide/Sotalol Comparator Study Group Abstract III drug, under monitored conditions, is a Objective—To compare the eYcacy and potential alternative to currently available safety of a single dose of ibutilide, a new cardioversion options. class III antiarrhythmic drug, with that of (Heart 1998;79:568–575) DL-sotalol in terminating chronic atrial fibrillation or flutter in haemodynami- Keywords: atrial fibrillation; atrial flutter; cally stable patients. antiarrhythmic agents; ibutilide; sotalol Design—Double blind, randomised study. Setting—43 European hospitals. Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are the most Patients—308 patients (mean age 60 years, 70% men, 48% with heart disease) with frequently occurring tachycardias in man: sustained atrial fibrillation (n = 251) or prevalence is estimated to be 0.4% for atrial 1–3 atrial flutter (n = 57) (duration three fibrillation and 0.1% for atrial flutter, and hours to 45 days) were randomised to they may increase to 4% in people older than University Hospital, three groups to receive a 10 minute 60 years. Treatment for acute conversion of Maastricht, infusion of 1 mg ibutilide (n = 99), 2 mg these arrhythmias consists of antiarrhythmic Netherlands drugs or electrical cardioversion, or both. MAVos ibutilide (n = 106), or 1.5 mg/kg DL-sotalol HJJWellens (n = 103). Infusion was discontinued at The basic electrophysiological mechanism termination of the arrhythmia. thought to be responsible for atrial flutter and Cardiology Research Main outcome measure—Successful con- fibrillation is that of re-entry, with atrial fibril- Centre, Moscow, version of atrial fibrillation or flutter, lation being caused by multiple independent Russia defined as termination of arrhythmia re-entry wavelets, and atrial flutter by one large S R Golitsyn http://heart.bmj.com/ 1–5 M Y Ruda within one hour of treatment. circuit often located within the right atrium. Results—Both drugs were more eVective In both instances prolongation of the Humholdt University, against atrial flutter than against atrial wavelength45 (the product of conduction Berlin, Germany fibrillation. Ibutilide was superior to DL- velocity of the impulse and the refractory K Stangl sotalol for treating atrial flutter (70% and period) may cause conversion from atrial St Chr Ziekenhuis 56% v 19%), while the high dose of arrhythmia to sinus rhythm. On the basis of this Refaja, Stadskanaal, ibutilide was more eVective for treating principle class III antiarrhythmic agents, which Netherlands atrial fibrillation than DL-sotalol (44% v increase duration of the action potential and L Van Wijk on September 27, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 11%) and the lower dose of ibutilide (44% v the refractory period of atrial muscle without 20%, p < 0.01). The mean (SD) time to Pharmacia & Upjohn, having much influence on conduction velocity, Crawley, West Sussex, arrhythmia termination was 13 (7) min- may help to restore sinus rhythm in patients UK utes with 2 mg ibutilide, 19 (15) minutes with atrial flutter and fibrillation.6–12 The J D Harry with 1 mg ibutilide, and 25 (17) minutes precise electrophysiological mechanism by with DL-sotalol. In all patients, the dura- which class III agents exert their beneficial Pharmacia & Upjohn, tion of arrhythmia before treatment was a Kalamazoo, Michigan, eVect remains speculative. USA predictor of arrhythmia termination, al- Ibutilide fumarate (U-70226E) is a new class though this was less obvious in the group KTPerry III agent for acute conversion of atrial flutter that received 2 mg ibutilide. This dose and fibrillation that has recently been intro- Hospitaux de Lyon, converted almost 48% of atrial fibrillation duced in the US.13–17 Introduction in Europe Lyon, France that was present for more than 30 days. P Touboul will take place throughout 1998. Preclinical Concomitant use of digitalis or nifedipine and prolongation of the QTc interval were animal studies have shown that ibutilide Klinikum Grosehadern prolongs duration of the action potential and of the University of not predictive of arrhythmia termination. Munich, Germany Bradycardia (6.5%) and hypotension the eVective refractory period of the atrium and G Steinbeck (3.7%) were more common side eVects ventricle, thereby preventing and suppressing with DL-sotalol. Of 211 patients given ibu- (the induction of) atrial and ventricular Correspondence to: arrhythmias.18–21 Ibutilide is available only as an Dr M A Vos, Department of tilide, two (0.9%) who received the higher Cardiology, Cardiovascular dose developed polymorphic ventricular intravenous preparation because of poor bio- Research Institute availability caused by a large first pass eVect Maastricht, University tachycardia, one of whom required direct Hospital Maastricht, PO Box current cardioversion. during oral administration. 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, Conclusion—Ibutilide (given in 1 or 2 mg DL-sotalol combines class III antiarrhythmic Netherlands. doses over 10 minutes) is highly eVective activity with â adrenoceptor blocking action Accepted for publication for rapidly terminating persistent atrial and is available in many countries as an 24 November 1997 fibrillation or atrial flutter. This new class intravenous formulation. Because it is widely EYcacy of ibutilide and sotalol in atrial arrhythmias 569 Table 1 Number of evaluable patients disease, myocardial infarction or cardiac sur- gery within the previous 30 days, known sinus Ibutilide fumarate node dysfunction, second or third degree Heart: first published as 10.1136/hrt.79.6.568 on 1 June 1998. Downloaded from Arrhythmia 1mg 2mg DL-Sotalol Total atrioventricular (AV) block, bundle branch block, WolV-Parkinson-White syndrome Atrial flutter 16 20 21 57 and/or torsade de pointes were not included. Atrial fibrillation 83 86 82 251 Concurrent treatment with verapamil, diltiazem, or drugs that prolong the QT inter- used for the treatment of atrial arrhythmias in val was not allowed. Treatment with class I or Europe,11 12 this drug was chosen as a compara- III antiarrhythmic agents or with â adrenocep- tor. tor blocking agents was discontinued for more The European multicentre study reported than five half lives before enrolment. Antico- here compares the safety and eYcacy of agulation was the responsibility of the investi- intravenous ibutilide with that of intravenous gators. DL-sotalol in the acute termination of sustained The following information was collected to atrial flutter or fibrillation. identify eligible patients: medical history (in- cluding earlier episodes of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter and treatment, and time of onset Methods of the current arrhythmic episode), physical STUDY DESIGN This multicentre trial was a prospective, double examination (including blood pressure), 12 blind, randomised, parallel group comparison lead ECG, and laboratory evaluation (includ- of two doses of ibutilide with a single dose of ing digitalis concentrations). DL-sotalol in haemodynamically stable patients who had recent onset sustained atrial flutter or STUDY MEDICATION fibrillation. Recent onset was defined as Patients were randomised to receive 1 mg ibu- continuous atrial flutter or fibrillation for tilide, 2 mg ibutilide, or 1.5 mg/kg DL-sotalol. longer than three hours but less than 45 days. Drugs were prepared in ampules of 25 ml of All centres obtained ethics committee approval which 20 ml was given as a single 10 minute and all patients gave informed consent—319 intravenous infusion using a similar infusion patients were treated at 40 diVerent sites. rate. Blinding was maintained by the drug The protocol intended to enrol 300 patients being prepared by an individual not responsi- equally distributed between the two arrhythmia ble for making assessments. Patients with atrial groups. This objective was not achieved, flutter and fibrillation were separately ran- however, because of the slow recruitment of domised to one of the treatment modes. patients with flutter. A total of 300 patients with both arrhythmias was estimated to detect http://heart.bmj.com/ adiVerence of 17% between both doses of ibu- OBSERVATIONS AND EVALUATIONS At least 15 minutes before administration of tilide combined and DL-sotalol, or 20% be- the drug, continuous ECG monitoring was tween one dose of ibutilide and DL-sotalol (p < 0.05, power 80%). started and continued until seven hours had passed after the start of drug infusion. A Holter recording was made during an additional 24 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA hours if conversion to sinus rhythm occurred. Patients older than 18 years with recent onset ECGs were recorded at 30 minutes, and one on September 27, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. sustained atrial flutter or fibrillation were eligi- and seven hours (for patients who were ble when they: were haemodynamically stable successfully treated) after the start of infusion. (systolic blood pressure > 90 mm Hg and The haemodynamic status of the patient was diastolic blood pressure < 105 mm Hg); had a regularly checked by measuring heart rate and normal serum potassium concentration blood pressure every five minutes for 15 (> 4 mEq/l); had a ventricular rate of > 60 minutes before the end of infusion, and at 10 beats/min; and had a rate corrected QT minute intervals for 50 minutes and then interval of no more than 440 ms in their 12 hourly for seven hours. Blood and urine were lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Patients with collected before drug infusion and seven hours hyperthyroidism, or with a history or evidence later for routine safety laboratory evaluations of of unstable angina pectoris, bronchospastic haematological and biochemical variables. Table 2 Demographic and baseline characteristics This seven hour observation period was selected arbitrarily on the basis that side effects Ibutilide have been reported to occur within this period, 1 mg (n = 102) 2 mg (n = 109) Sotalol (n = 108) and it was convenient in the daily logistics of the hospital.