Effects of pentisomide and E-4031 on canine atrial flutter due to reentry: a comparative study with disopyramide and propafenone.

Effects of new antiarrhythmic drugs, pentisomide [3.5 +/- 0.5 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.) n = 8], and E-4031 (5.6 +/- 1.0 micrograms/kg, n = 8), a class III drug, on atrial flutter (AF) caused by reentry were compared with those of disopyramide (1.6 +/- 0.2 mg/kg, n = 8) and propafenone (2.2 +/- 0.2 mg/kg, n = 8). AF was induced with burst atrial pacing after we made an intercaval crush in anesthetized, open-chest dogs. Termination of AF did not differ among test drugs (8 of 8 with disopyramide, 7 of 8 with propafenone, 6 of 8 with pentisomide, and 8 of 8 with E-4031). Cycle length (CL) of AF was prolonged more with propafenone (57 +/- 10%) and pentisomide (41 +/- 5%) than with E-4031 (12 +/- 3%, p less than 0.05). This was also true for increase in interatrial conduction time determined at a pacing CL of 150 ms. Increase in atrial effective refractory period (ERP) determined at a basic pacing CL of 300 ms did not differ among test drugs. Changes in CL of AF correlated significantly with those in interatrial conduction time (r = 0.84, p less than 0.001), but not with those of ERP (r = 0.10, NS). Reinitiation of AF was significantly greater in propafenone (7 of 7) and pentisomide (5 of 6) groups than in disopyramide (1 of 8) and E-4031 (0 of 8) groups (p less than 0.001). Pentisomide and E-4031 were effective in terminating canine AF due to reentry, as were disopyramide and propafenone. Reinitiation of AF was greater in dogs treated with antiarrhythmic drugs that had more prominent effects on conduction time than on ERP.