Calcium antagonists post-infarction: the significance of experimental studies on potentially lethal early ischemic ventricular arrhythmias.

The DAVIT-II trial has shown that the verapamil type of calcium antagonist can beneficially be used in post-infarct patients. A recent re-analysis suggests that verapamil may also prevent post-infarct sudden death. There are good theoretical reasons to suppose that calcium antagonists should help prevent ventricular fibrillation. If calcium antagonist agents could be found which have negligible negative inotropic effects, such drugs might be ideal for further testing in the post-infarct phase.