ORLANDO-A venerable antiarrhythmic drug can sometimes jump start the heart when field defibrillation fails.
Paramedics in Seattle and King County, Wash., significantly boosted their resuscitation rate for out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation using IV amiodarone (Cordarone, Wyeth-Ayerst) after the third ineffective shock.
Treatment in the ARREST (Amiodarone in the Out-of-Hospital Resuscitation of Refractory Sustained Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias) trial took the likelihood of being admitted alive to the hospital from 39% to 49%, a relative improvement of 26% compared with those getting standard resuscitation, says the University of Washington’s Dr. Peter Kudenchuk.
Among patients in whom defibrillation alone could only temporarily restore a perfusing rhythm, admission alive to the hospital rose from 41% to 64%, a relative improvement of 56% with IV amiodarone, he told the American Heart Association meeting here.
