Efficacy of moricizine in malignant ventricular arrhythmias

Abstract

Moricizine hydrochloride has been shown to be effective in the treatment of a variety of ventricular arrhythmias. It has been evaluated for the treatment of malignant ventricular arrhythmias in several hundred patients. When assessed by noninvasive techniques, moricizine effectively suppresses spontaneous unsustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) in approximately 60% of patients. Efficacy is sustained during long-term therapy. Evaluation of moricizine therapy for sustained VT using programmed stimulation has been carefully performed in more than 100 patients. The initiation of sustained VT is suppressed in 20 to 25% of patients. Moricizine is generally well tolerated. Because of its minimal effects on left ventricular function, a common clinical problem in patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and relatively low potential for proarrhythmia, moricizine has a role in the treatment of malignant ventricular arrhythmias in selected patients.