[Comparative study of the efficacy and tolerability of 2 modalities of intravenous cibenzoline administration in the reduction of recent spontaneous atrial arrhythmia].

This multicentre, single blind, parallel group study compared the efficacy and clinical and electrocardiographic tolerance of a 2 minute intravenous administration of cibenzoline at a dose of 1.2 mg.kg-1 with that of a 10 minute 1.75 mg.kg-1 infusion in patients presenting with spontaneous atrial fibrillation (AF) for less than 6 weeks. Sixty-two patients (40 men and 22 women) with an average age of 62 years and presenting with sustained AF for at least 30 minutes with a ventricular rate greater than or equal to 80 bpm were randomly assigned to groups and received via the intravenous route either one of the two treatments. Efficacy (return to sinus rhythm) was assessed by an ECG recording every 5 minutes and at 45 and 60 minutes thereafter. Sixty-one of the 62 randomised patients were assessed for efficacy. Cibenzoline, administered in the form of a bolus or infusion, proved effective within one hour in 4 patients in each group (13%) and arrhythmia persisted with ventricular rate of less than 80 bpm in 10 (33%) and 5 (16%) of the patients respectively. In patients in whom sinus rhythm was not restored, ventricular rate was significantly reduced by cibenzoline. The patients in whom normal rhythm was restored under one of these treatment regimens were significantly younger. Patients in whom rhythm returned to normal following the administration of the bolus had AF of significantly more recent onset than that of the patients in whom abnormal rhythm persisted, whilst the history of the AF did not differ significantly between these two types of response after the infusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)