The Use of Intravenous Sotalol in Cardiac Arrhythmias

Sotalol is a non-selective beta-adrenergic blocking agent without intrinsic sympathomimetic activity. It has the additional unique property of producing pronounced prolongation of the cardiac action potential duration. Sotalol therapy has been indicated for the management of supraventricular arrhythmias, refractory life threatening ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation/flutter. Until recently, sotalol was only available in the oral form, however, it was approved for intravenous administration by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The current recommendations are for sotalol 75-150mg to be administered intravenously over 5hours. This rate of administration does not reflect the majority of the research that has been performed with regards to intravenous sotalol. Also, the safety of intravenous bolus dosing of 100mg over 1 and 5minutes has previously been demonstrated. The antiarrhythmic action of sotalol depends on its ability to prolong refractoriness in the nodal and extra nodal tissue. Hence, by giving a lower dose over a long duration, patients may not necessarily benefit from its anti-arrhythmic potential. The purpose of this article is to review the research that has been conducted with regards to dosage and safety of intravenous sotalol, its electrophysiological effects and finally the spectrum of arrhythmias in which it has been used to date.