The effectiveness of verapamil in preventing ventricular fibrillation caused by coronary occlusion or reperfusion has been well demonstrated in animal studies, but these experimental data have not yet been confirmed in man. In this study we evaluated the prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias (fibrillation, sustained tachycardia and frequent extrasystoles) in patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction and treated with or without verapamil. The records of patients admitted to our Coronary Intensive Care unit during a 5-year period were analyzed retrospectively. Strict selection criteria enabled us to divide our patients into two homogeneous groups. The control group (group A) consisted of 106 patients who received only continuous infusions of heparin. The treated group (group B) comprised 89 patients who received exclusively verapamil by intravenous injections followed by continuous infusions. The prevalence of ventricular arrhythmia of all types was significantly lower in group B (22 p. 100) than in group A patients (71 p. 100; p less than 0.001). Episodes of ventricular fibrillation, in particular, were considerably less frequent in group B patients (1 p. 100) than in group A patients (13 p. 100; p less than 0.001). It would appear from these results that verapamil is highly effective in preventing death due to cardiac arrhythmia in the acute phase of myocardial infarction.
