Philosophy of antiarrhythmic approaches to ventricular tachyarrhythmias close to the 21st century.

The scientific basis and the reasoning underlying the changes in antiarrhythmic approaches to ventricular arrhythmias during recent decades are discussed. The early enthusiasm in the use of antiarrhythmic drugs in patients after myocardial infarction to prevent sudden cardiac death was severely affected by the results of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST) which show an increased mortality of patients on sodium-channel antagonist antiarrhythmic drugs. A transient euphoria for drugs that prolong repolarization received criticism after premature termination of the Survival With Oral D-sotalol-trial (SWORD). Recently, attention has focused on the use of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator in both secondary and primary prevention of sudden death. In contrast, catheter ablation, although very useful in supraventricular tachycardia, still plays a limited role in the management of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in the presence of organic heart disease.