Incessant monomorphic ventricular tachycardia induced by the proarrhythmic effect of amiodarone.

Abstract

This case report describes incessant monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT), not torsade de pointes, induced by intravenous amiodarone in a 48-year-old woman with dilated cardiomyopathy. VT was reproducibly triggered by short coupled premature ventricular complex (PVC) with different morphology from VT. After amiodarone infusion, the coupling interval of initiating PVC was prolonged, and moreover, the morphology of initiating PVC became the same as that of VT. Though amiodarone has become the first line drug to treat ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with cardiac dysfunction, it is important to be aware of its proarrhythmic effect, which may lead to an electrical storm of monomorphic VT.

• Authors: Hisaki Makimoto, Takashi Noda, Takashi Kurita, Ikutaro Nakajima, Teruki Yokoyama, Atsushi Doi, Yuko Yamada, Hideo Okamura, Kazuhiro Satomi, Takeshi Aiba, Wataru Shimizu, Kazuhiro Suyama, Naohiko Aihara, Shiro Kamakura
• Journal: Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) (Intern Med) Vol. 50 Issue 21 Pg. 2591-5 ( 2011) ISSN: 1349-7235 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 22041363 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Amiodarone

Topics

• Amiodarone (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Arrhythmias, Cardiac (chemically induced, diagnosis)
• Electrocardiography (drug effects)
• Female
• Humans
• Injections, Intravenous
• Middle Aged
• Tachycardia, Ventricular (chemically induced, diagnosis)