Haemodynamic effects of a new anti-arrhythmic agent, mexiletine (Kö 1173) in ischaemic heart disease.

The haemodynamic effects of mexiletine (Kö 1173) were studied in six patients. Heart rate and cardiac output remained unchanged. The systemic arterial pressure was reduced in two patients owing to a fall in the peripheral resistance. Cardiac function, assessed by means of the stroke work and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, was depressed in three patients, who all had a current or past history of severe heart failure.