[Therapeutic and preventive effect of oral lidocaine in extrasystole]

Lidocaine, Egypt production, P. R. of Hungary, was perorally administered in an average dose of 1.8 +/- 0.38 gr daily for a period of 14.23 +/- 28.9 days to 52 patients with and average age of 61,52 +/- 12.8 with various organic cardiac diseases and ventricular extrasystolic arrhythmia. In 18 of them (47.38%) complete inhibition of arrhythmia was attained, in 10 (26.31%) a combination with another antirhythm preparation was necessary and in 10 (26.31%) the treatment had no effect. In 14 patients the peroral lidocaine form followed its intravenous infusion in acute myocardial infarction with a prophylactic aim and no rhythm disorders were observed. It was established that the unaffected cases were with proportional growth, depending on the severity of arrhythmia, classified according to the prognostic indices of Lown. In 13.46 per cent of the patients, adverse effects were observed, mainly from the gastrointestinal system. The authors think that lidocaine is a proper drug in the treatment of ventricular extrasystolic arrhythmia in the first two classes of Lown and in the prophylaxis of the patients with rhythm disorders after acute myocardial infarction.