Clinical outcome in patients with paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation receiving bepridil

It is unknown whether bepridil improves cardiovascular events in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, so this study evaluated the clinical outcome in paroxysmal or persistent AF patients receiving bepridil.

We conducted a cohort study of 284 consecutive patients who received bepridil for AF (25% female, 5913 years) with a median follow-up period of 17 months (4-157 months). A total of 135 (48%) patients had structural heart disease, and 231 patients (81%) had previously received class I or class III antiarrhythmic drugs. The cumulative rates for cardiovascular events were 2.4%, 8.1%, and 10.1% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The cumulative rates for a composite of mortality, cerebral infarction, systemic embolism, major bleeding and heart failure were 9.7%, 18.2%, and 29.6% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The probability of progression to permanent AF was 23.5% at 5 years. Sudden death occurred in a patient with a prior myocardial infarction who was taking 200mg daily, and torsade de pointes (Tdp) occurred in two patients without structural heart disease taking 200mg daily. Excessive corrected QT interval prolongation (>0.50s) was observed when plasma concentrations were higher than 800 ng/ml.

Bepridil might not improve the clinical outcome in refractory AF patients. Bepridil-related adverse events, including QT prolongation and Tdp, occurred in a dose- and concentration-dependent manner.