Cordarone shall be carefully prescribed to patients suffering from:
a. Hypertension
b. Arrhythmia
c. Depression
d. Hyperthyroidism
e. Seizure
Cordarone shall be carefully prescribed to patients suffering from:
a. Hypertension
b. Arrhythmia
c. Depression
d. Hyperthyroidism
e. Seizure
Answer: (d). Amiodarone (Cordarone) is a member of a class of antiarrhythmic drugs with predominantly Class III (Vaughan Williams' classification) effects, available for oral administration as pink, scored tablets containing 200 mg of Amiodarone hydrochloride.
Amiodarone (Cordarone) contains 37.3% iodine by weight. Therefore, it shall be carefully prescribed to patients suffering from hypo-hyper-thyroidism.
Because of its life-threatening side effects and the substantial management difficulties associated with its use, Amiodarone (Cordarone) is indicated only for the treatment of the following documented, life-threatening recurrent ventricular arrhythmias when these have not responded to documented adequate doses of other available antiarrhythmics or when alternative agents could not be tolerated.
1. Recurrent ventricular fibrillation.
2. Recurrent hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia.
Loading doses of 800 to 1,600 mg/day are required for 1 to 3 weeks (occasionally longer) until initial therapeutic response occurs. Administration of Amiodarone (Cordarone) in divided doses with meals is suggested for total daily doses of 1,000 mg or higher, or when gastrointestinal intolerance occurs. If side effects become excessive, the dose should be reduced.
When adequate arrhythmia control is achieved, or if side effects become prominent, Amiodarone (Cordarone) dose should be reduced to 600 to 800 mg/day for one month and then to the maintenance dose, usually 400 mg/day.
Since grapefruit juice is known to inhibit CYP3A4-mediated metabolism of oral amiodarone in the intestinal mucosa, resulting in increased plasma levels of Amiodarone, grapefruit juice should not be taken during treatment with oral Amiodarone.
Since amiodarone is a substrate for CYP3A4 and CYP2C8, drugs/substances that inhibit CYP3A4 may decrease the metabolism and increase serum concentrations of Amiodarone.
Hepatic injury, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, tremor, poor coordination and pulmonary fibrosis are commonly reported side effects of Amiodarone (Cordarone).
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