Canadian Amiodarone/Arrhythmia Myocardial

EMIAT (European Myocardial Infarction Amiodarone Trial), CAMIAT (Canadian Amiodarone/Arrhythmia Myocardial Infarction Trial), and BASIS (Basel Antiarrhythmic Study of Infarct Survival) evaluated the use of anpiric amiodarone after myocardial infarction (122,123,133). These studies did not show that amiodarone had a survival advantage however, a small but statistically significant reduction of sudden death (CAMIAT) and arrhythmic events (EMIAT) was observed. 

Amiodarone (11), a benzofuran derivative, was initially developed as a coronary vasodilator in the early 1960 s [11,12]. Several years later, the efficacy of the compound as an antiarrhythmic agent began to be exploited. The first clinical trials with amiodarone were reported in 1974 [13]. Amiodarone was effective in controlling the tachyarrhythmias of eleven patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since that time the compound has been studied extensively [14,15]. Recently, in the Canadian Amiodarone Myocardial Infarction Arrhythmia Trial (CAMIAT), amiodarone was shown to reduce mortality during a mean 18 month period following myocardial infarction (13.8% deaths in placebo group vs. 2.1 % deaths in the treatment group) [16]. 

Cairns JA, Connolly SJ, Roberts R, et al. Randomised trial of outcome after myocardial infarction in patients with frequent or repetitive ventricular premature depolarisations CAMIAT. Canadian Amiodarone myocardial infarction arrhythmia trial investigators. Lancet. Mar 8 1997 349(9053) 675-682. 

In the Canadian Amiodarone Myocardial Infarction Arrhythmia Trial (CAMIAT) amiodarone reduced dysrhythmic deaths from 6.0 to 3.3% compared with placebo non-dysrhythmic deaths were not affected (41). 

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