Continuous intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate after acute myocardial infarction

Two hundred and fifty patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction were treated with a continuous infusion of magnesium sulfate for 24 h (a total of 46 mmol of elemental magnesium). Only 1 patient had ventricular fibrillation; no patient had sustained ventricular tachycardia requiring cardioversion. Twenty-five patients had short runs of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia and did not need cardioversion. In 6 further patients, the infusion had to be discontinued because of a drop in blood pressure. The in-hospital mortality for the group was 3.4%.