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. 1988 Sep;26(3):327–329. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1988.tb05284.x

The relative effects of digoxin and diltiazem upon ventricular ectopic activity in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation.

R V Lewis 1, D G McDevitt 1
PMCID: PMC1386546  PMID: 2460118

Abstract

In eight patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, treatment with digoxin (plasma drug concentration 1.3 to 2.0 nmol l-1) was associated with a significantly higher incidence of ventricular premature beats (VPBs) (mean 22.8 h-1) than diltiazem 120 mg three times daily (mean 6.8 h-1) (P less than 0.05). Seven out of the eight patients showed an increase in numbers of VPBs recorded over 24 h during treatment with digoxin when compared with diltiazem. The clinical importance of these results is unclear, but atrial fibrillation and ischaemic heart disease frequently co-exist, and increases in ventricular ectopy may predispose to serious ventricular arrhythmias following myocardial infarction.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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