Pharmacoeconomic considerations in antiarrhythmic therapy.

Recently, the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST) has focused attention on the morbidity and mortality that may be associated with pharmacological antiarrhythmic therapies. While the severity and frequency of adverse effects vary among the available agents, it is uncertain whether initial therapy with one agent is preferable to that with another when efficacy, incidence of adverse effects and costs of treating these adverse effects are examined. Moreover, it is uncertain whether pharmacotherapy is more cost-effective than other strategies.