Plasma disopyramide concentrations following a 300-mg oral loading dose in acute myocardial infarction

Plasma disopyramide concentrations were measured in 19 patients with suspected myocardial infarction (MI) following an oral loading dose of 300 mg. Infarction was confirmed in 17 patients. In 10 patients blood samples were collected frequently over a period of 6 h, and in the remaining nine, blood samples were collected for 60 h whilst they were receiving a maintenance dose of 100 mg six hourly. There was a wide variation in the absorption of the drug, and only 8 patients achieved plasma concentrations in the range 2-4 mg/L within one hour of ingestion; 8 of the patients on maintenance therapy were within this range 24 h following the start of therapy. Although only 2 noninfarct patients were observed, they achieved the highest plasma disopyramide concentrations--above the therapeutic range--within 1 h of receiving the loading dose. Narcotic analgesia was associated with poor absorption of the drug, but this does not exclude severity of infarction or vomiting after the loading dose from contributing to the wide variation in plasma concentrations in the early stages following the loading dose. It is concluded that this regime is unsuitable for prophylactic use in acute MI.