Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic agent (medication used for irregular heart beat) used for various types of tachyarrhythmias (fast forms of irregular heart beat), both ventricular and supraventricular (atrial) arrhythmias. Discovered in 1961, it was not approved for use in the United States until 1985. Despite relatively common side-effects, it is used in arrhythmias that are otherwise difficult to treat with medication. Related newer compounds, s...
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Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic agent (medication used for irregular heart beat) used for various types of tachyarrhythmias (fast forms of irregular heart beat), both ventricular and supraventricular (atrial) arrhythmias. Discovered in 1961, it was not approved for use in the United States until 1985. Despite relatively common side-effects, it is used in arrhythmias that are otherwise difficult to treat with medication. Related newer compounds, such as dronedarone, have lower efficacy but a reduced rate of side-effects.
Amiodarone was initially developed in 1961 at the Labaz company, Belgium, by chemists Tondeur and Binon. It became popular in Europe as a treatment for angina pectoris.
As a doctoral candidate at Oxford University, Dr. Bramah Singh determined that amiodarone and sotalol had antiarrhythmic properties and belonged to a new class of antiarrhythmic agents (what would become the class III antiarrhythmic agents). Today the mechanisms of action of amiodarone and sotalol...
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