[Control of the efficacy of anti-arrhythmic treatments]

The evaluation of antiarrhythmic drug efficacy can be based on clinical history, ambulatory monitoring and/or clinical electrophysiological investigations. The respective indications for such methods depend mainly on the nature of the arrhythmia, its severity, and the aim of the study. In benign arrhythmias the goal is to improve the patient's symptoms. In chronic arrhythmias Holter monitoring is the best means of quantitating the actual benefit of the treatment. In triggerable paroxysmal arrhythmias electrophysiological methods are very useful even though they do not afford total security as far as long-term follow-up is concerned.