Effects of sotalol in twenty patients with cardiac arrhythmias

Sotalol was given intravenously at doses of 20 to 60 mg to 20 selected patients with various cardiac arrhythmias. Ten of these patients subsequently received oral sotalol at doses of 80 to 160 mg twice a day. The drug was beneficial in 2 out of 2 patients with sinus tachycardia and in 4 out of 7 patients with other supraventricular tachycardias. The drug was particularly effective in lidocaineresistant ventricular arrhythmias since it was effective in 9 out of 11 patients. The blood pressure of the 4 patients who were hypertensive was significantly lowered while that of the normotensive patients was not affected. Three patients who suffered from severe myocardial disease developed sinus bradycardia, which was life-threatening in 2 of them.