[Treatment of chronic ventricular extrasystole by propafenone (600 mg/d) in 2 or 3 daily doses]

The efficacy of propafenone by oral route in the treatment of chronic ventricular extrasystoles (VES) was investigated in 14 subjects in the context of a multicenter evaluation carried out double blind and using a crossover sequence. The purpose of this study was to compare the antiarrhythmic efficacy of a dose of 600 mg/d of propafenone randomly divided into two or three subdoses. After carrying out two Holter recordings (< 15 days) the patients presenting with chronic (< or = 100 VES/H) and stable (interindividual variability > or = 30%) ventricular extrasystoles were included. The treatment period consisted of two 8-day courses divided by a placebo period and carried out following a crossover mode. The efficacy of treatment was defined as a reduction in the VES by at least 70% relative to the second Holter during the inclusion period which was used as the reference period. Fourteen patients (57.2 +/- 18.2 years) from eight cardiological centers (eight with heart disease) were included. In general, propafenone at a dose of 600 mg/d bid or tid significantly reduced the total number of VES by about 65%: 15,239 +/- 2,663 VES/24 h (baseline) to 5,238 +/- 2,746 VES/24 h (bid) and 5,765 +/- 2683 VES/24 h (tid); p < 0.0001, with no significant difference between the bid and tid treatments. Individually, 8 patients (57%) responded during the bid treatment, 7 patients (50%) during the tid treatment and 6 patients during both treatments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)