Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology
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J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. · Apr 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparative study of nifekalant versus amiodarone for shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest patients.
In Japan, intravenous nifekalant (NIF) was often used for direct current cardioversion-resistant ventricular fibrillation (VF), until the use of intravenous amiodarone (AMD) was approved in 2007. The defibrillatory efficacy of NIF and AMD has thus far not been compared for resuscitation. ⋯ AMD may be borderline superior over NIF to facilitate defibrillation in out-of-hospital patients with cardiopulmonary arrest. However, from the view point of preservation of brain function, NIF is not inferior to AMD for CPR.