Torsade de pointes induced by amiodarone in a patient with heart failure

摘要

Amiodarone is widely used to control and prevent the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with severe heart failure. Although amiodarone, like other class III antiarrhythmic drugs, can cause QT-interval prolongation, the development of torsade de pointes (TdP) in patients taking amiodarone is rare [1]. When fatal ventricular arrhythmia occurs in a patient with severe heart failure who is being treated with amiodarone, it is important to determine whether the mechanism of ventricular arrhythmia was induced by that drug or by other causes of abnormal electrical activity in the heart.