Comparison of adenosine and verapamil for termination of paroxysmal junctional tachycardia

Paroxysmal junctional tachycardia is a rapid heart beat which starts and ends suddenly. These abnormal heart beats can be terminated with physical maneuvers or with drugs. Verapamil is the drug most commonly used, while adenosine is also effective in terminating abnormal electrical conduction in the heart. The effectiveness of both drugs was compared in 20 patients during electrophysical heart testing. With respect to ending the arrhythmia or preventing the development of significant arrhythmias, adenosine worked well on all 20 patients, while six patients on verapamil had subsequent undesirable arrhythmias. Therefore adenosine was more effective in ending paroxysmal junctional ventricular tachycardia without causing other types of arrhythmias. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)