Table 3.
Antiarrhythmic drugs and percentages of successful conversion
| All patients (n=1138) | Patients with no history of previous AF (n=883) | Patients with history of paroxysmal AF (n=117) | Patients with history of chronic AF (n=138) | |
| Use of drugs | ||||
| Any class I agent | 132 (12%) | 112 (13%) | 14 (12%) | 6 (4%)† |
| Procainamide | 92 (8%) | 85 (10%) | 3 (3%)* | 4 (3%)* |
| Quinidine | 23 (2%) | 16 (2%) | 4 (3%) | 3 (2%) |
| Disopyramide | 8 (1%) | 3 (<1%) | 2 (2%) | 3 (2%)* |
| Encainide | 4 (<1%) | 2 (<1%) | 0% | 2 (1%) |
| Flecainide | 6 (1%) | 4 (<1%) | 0% | 2 (1%) |
| Propafenone | 24 (2%) | 16 (2%) | 5 (4%) | 3 (2%) |
| Sotalol | 55 (5%) | 41 (5%) | 8 (7%) | 6 (4%) |
| Amiodarone | 168 (15%) | 137 (16%) | 16 (14%) | 15 (11%) |
| Any antiarrhythmic agent | 317 (28%) | 262 (30%) | 32 (27%) | 23 (17%)† |
| Successful conversion to sinus rhythm | ||||
| Any class I agent | 72% | 74% | 64% | 50% |
| Procainamide | 70% | 72% | 33% | 50% |
| Quinidine | 61% | 69% | 50% | 33% |
| Disopyramide | 13% | 0% | 50% | 0% |
| Encainide | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Flecainide | 17% | 25% | 0% | 0% |
| Propafenone | 67% | 69% | 100% | 0% |
| Sotalol | 67% | 73% | 63% | 33% |
| Amiodarone | 79% | 85% | 63%† | 6%‡ |
| Any antiarrhythmic agent | 80% | 84% | 72% | 48%‡ |
Data are presented as actual patient numbers with percentages in the first half and percentages only in the second half.
*p < 0.05, †p < 0.01, ‡p < 0.001 v patients with no history of previous AF.
AF, atrial fibrillation.