[Effect of ritmilen on myocardial refractility and cardiac impulse conduction in patients with paroxysmal tachycardia].

By choosing antiarrhythmic therapy, ritmilen, 3 mg/kg, was given to 30 patients with atrial, atrioventricular, reciprocal and ventricular tachycardias. The agent was found to have the highest effect on atrial myocardial refractoriness in patients with atrial tachycardias and on ventricular refractoriness in patients with ventricular tachycardias (longer effective and functional refractory periods). Intraventricular pathways are the major site of ritmilen's effect on anterograde conduction. Profound changes were found in patients with atrial and ventricular tachycardias. The cholinolytic action of ritmilen on the atrioventricular node was detected in 20% of the patients, whereas sinus rhythm increased in 90%, which may be attributable to asymmetric vagus innervation of sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes.