Automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: early experience at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center.

Fifteen patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias were treated with the automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD) over a 22-month period. The cause of the arrhythmia was coronary artery disease in 13 of the patients (87%), sarcoid cardiomyopathy in one (7%), and a primary electrical abnormality in one (7%). The mean ejection fraction was 29%, with a range of 15% to 70%.

Electrophysiologic study of the effects of aminophylline and metaproterenol on canine myocardium.

Aminophylline and beta-adrenergic agonists are widely used in the treatment of obstructive lung diseases. It has been suggested that combined aminophylline and beta-agonist therapy may promote the development of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. The effects of these agents in combination on myocardial conduction and tissue refractoriness have not been documented.

Comparable effects of intravenous nitroglycerin and intravenous nitroprusside in acute ischemia.

Forty patients with unstable angina were randomized to therapy with intravenous nitroglycerin (NTG) or nitroprusside (NTP). Invasive hemodynamic measurements were compared in both treatment groups and were used in concert with serial radionuclide monitoring of left ventricular function as patients were titrated to a therapeutic dose. Of the 22 patients randomized to intravenous NTG, there were 18 responders.