[The effects of intravenous mexiletine on cardiac performance (author's transl)]

The effects of intravenous Mexiletine (Kö1173) on cardiac performance has been studied in 20 patients affected by myocardiosclerosis (10 patients were classified in the 1st or 2nd NYHA classes, 10 cases in the 3rd or 4th ones. Mexiletine (1.5 mg/Kg) was given intravenously over a period of 1 minute. The effect on myocardial function has been evaluated by means of the systolic time intervals (STI). The drug caused non-significant changes of the left ventricular ejection time (LVET); on the contrary it caused a significant increases of the pre-ejection period (PEP), isometric contraction time (ICT) and the PEP/LVET ratio. These alteration became evident after 5--10 minutes and disappeared about 30 minutes after administration of the drug.