New approaches to drug selection and serial drug testing

Sudden cardiac death is a major problem in the United States. Our goal is to identify high-risk patients and to be able to target antiarrhythmic therapy to this population. Ambulatory electrocardiography, exercise tolerance testing, and programmed electrical stimulation studies may aid in the identification of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death and the selection of antiarrhythmic therapy. Each technique has its advantages, disadvantages, and limitations. These considerations must be taken into account if the procedure is to be optimally employed. We are in a period of rapid development of new antiarrhythmic agents. It is essential to fully understand the techniques employed to evaluate antiarrhythmic therapy.