Amiodarone--efficacy and late potentials during long-term therapy.

This prospective study was intended to examine the influence of long-term amiodarone therapy on the parameters of the signal averaged ECG and their relation to simultaneously derived Holter monitoring data. For this purpose 27 patients with angiographically confirmed dilated cardiomyopathy or coronary heart disease and highgrade ventricular arrhythmias, in whom an average of four class I antiarrhythmic drugs had proven ineffective, were stabilized on amiodarone. Before the beginning of therapy, as well as after two months and subsequently every three months if possible, a resting ECG, a signal averaged ECG by the method of Simson and Holter monitoring were performed. Compared to the initial measurement we found a significant increase in the duration of the total filtered QRS complex, while the change in the voltage did not reach the significance level. The incidence of late potentials remained largely constant under amiodarone. In the long-term follow up Holter monitoring showed a relatively high responder rate of between 46 and 81% under amiodarone. No relation could be detected between the results of the signal averaged ECG and those of 24-h Holter monitoring.