Antiarrhythmic effect of acute and chronic amiodarone treatment in conscious rats

The effect of amiodarone after acute and chronic pretreatment was studied in the early phase of arrhythmias induced by coronary artery ligation in conscious rats. Both acute and chronic amiodarone pretreatments improved survival during the first 20 min after coronary ligation. Only chronic amiodarone pretreatment reduced significantly the incidence of ventricular fibrillation. It was concluded that chronic amiodarone pretreatment seemed to be more effective than the acute one.