NEW YORK, Sep 16 (Reuters Health) -- Amiodarone, a drug used to treat irregular heart rhythms, improves the chances that a person experiencing a cardiac arrest will arrive at the hospital alive, report US researchers.
"In this clinical trial, we have demonstrated the independent benefit of... (amiodarone) in improving the rate of success of resuscitation," according to Dr. Peter Kudenchuk from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues. Their study results are published in the September 16th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Patients in this study had experienced a cardiac arrest that failed to respond to three or more electrical shocks in an effort to restore their heartbeat, the authors report. Of the 504 patients, 246 received amiodarone and 258 received (an inactive) placebo from paramedics.
Patients who received amiodarone were 60% more likely to survive and be admitted to the hospital than those who received placebo were, the results indicate. The survival to admission was 44% for the amiodarone group, compared to 34% for the placebo group.
Women responded to resuscitation efforts better than men did, according to the report, with a 60% greater chance of survival overall. Women who received amiodarone were more than four times as likely to survive to hospital admission as were women who received placebo.
Once patients were admitted to the hospital, their treatments varied widely, and there was no difference in the rates of survival after hospital admission, the investigators write. Ultimately, only about 13% of those experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survived to be discharged from the hospital.
The investigators speculate that higher doses of amiodarone given for longer periods and earlier in the resuscitation might bring even better results.
"Adding amiodarone to advanced cardiac life-support measures resulted in a net benefit," the researchers conclude. "One of every 10 patients treated survived to admission to the hospital." They suggest that further studies are needed to determine whether amiodarone can also improve the overall chances of survival in cardiac arrest patients.
