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Betapace (Sotalol Hydrochloride) - Summary

 
 



BOX WARNING

To minimize the risk of induced arrhythmia, patients initiated or reinitiated on Betapace®  should be placed for a minimum of three days (on their maintenance dose) in a facility that can provide cardiac resuscitation and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Creatinine clearance should be calculated prior to dosing. For detailed instructions regarding dose selection and special cautions for people with renal impairment, see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION. Sotalol is also indicated for the maintenance of normal sinus rhythm [delay in time to recurrence of atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (AFIB/AFL)] in patients with symptomatic AFIB/AFL who are currently in sinus rhythm and is marketed under the brand name Betapace AF®. Betapace is not approved for the AFIB/AFL indication and should not be substituted for Betapace AF because only Betapace AF is distributed with a patient package insert that is appropriate for patients with AFIB/AFL.

 

BETAPACE SUMMARY

BETAPACE® (sotalol hydrochloride) is an antiarrhythmic drug with Class II (beta-adrenoreceptor blocking) and Class III (cardiac action potential duration prolongation) properties. It is supplied as a light-blue, capsule-shaped tablet for oral administration.

Oral BETAPACE (sotalol hydrochloride) is indicated for the treatment of documented ventricular arrhythmias, such as sustained ventricular tachycardia, that in the judgment of the physician are life-threatening. Because of the proarrhythmic effects of BETAPACE (see WARNINGS), including a 1.5 to 2% rate of Torsade de Pointes or new VT/VF in patients with either NSVT or supraventricular arrhythmias, its use in patients with less severe arrhythmias, even if the patients are symptomatic, is generally not recommended. Treatment of patients with asymptomatic ventricular premature contractions should be avoided.

Initiation of BETAPACE treatment or increasing doses, as with other antiarrhythmic agents used to treat life-threatening arrhythmias, should be carried out in the hospital. The response to treatment should then be evaluated by a suitable method (e.g., PES or Holter monitoring) prior to continuing the patient on chronic therapy. Various approaches have been used to determine the response to antiarrhythmic therapy, including BETAPACE.

In the ESVEM Trial, response by Holter monitoring was tentatively defined as 100% suppression of ventricular tachycardia, 90% suppression of nonsustained VT, 80% suppression of paired VPCs, and 75% suppression of total VPCs in patients who had at least 10 VPCs/hour at baseline; this tentative response was confirmed if VT lasting 5 or more beats was not observed during treadmill exercise testing using a standard Bruce protocol. The PES protocol utilized a maximum of three extrastimuli at three pacing cycle lengths and two right ventricular pacing sites. Response by PES was defined as prevention of induction of the following: 1) monomorphic VT lasting over 15 seconds; 2) non-sustained polymorphic VT containing more than 15 beats of monomorphic VT in patients with a history of monomorphic VT; 3) polymorphic VT or VF greater than 15 beats in patients with VF or a history of aborted sudden death without monomorphic VT; and 4) two episodes of polymorphic VT or VF of greater than 15 beats in a patient presenting with monomorphic VT. Sustained VT or NSVT producing hypotension during the final treadmill test was considered a drug failure.

In a multicenter open-label long-term study of BETAPACE in patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias which had proven refractory to other antiarrhythmic medications, response by Holter monitoring was defined as in ESVEM. Response by PES was defined as non-inducibility of sustained VT by at least double extrastimuli delivered at a pacing cycle length of 400 msec. Overall survival and arrhythmia recurrence rates in this study were similar to those seen in ESVEM, although there was no comparative group to allow a definitive assessment of outcome.

Antiarrhythmic drugs have not been shown to enhance survival in patients with ventricular arrhythmias.

Sotalol is also indicated for the maintenance of normal sinus rhythm [delay in time to recurrence of atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (AFIB/AFL)] in patients with symptomatic AFIB/AFL who are currently in sinus rhythm and is marketed under the brand name BETAPACE AF. BETAPACE is not approved for the AFIB/AFL indication and should not be substituted for BETAPACE AF because only BETAPACE AF is distributed with a patient package insert that is appropriate for patients with AFIB/AFL.


See all Betapace indications & dosage >>

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Published Studies Related to Betapace (Sotalol)

The efficacy of sotalol in preventing postoperative atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis. [2011]
supraventricular tachyarrhythmias... CONCLUSION: Sotalol is more effective in the prevention of supraventricular

The Drug And Pace Health cliNical Evaluation (DAPHNE) study: a randomized trial comparing sotalol versus beta-blockers to treat symptomatic atrial fibrillation in patients with brady-tachycardia syndrome implanted with an antitachycardia pacemaker. [2008.08]
BACKGROUND: Atrial tachyarrhythmias (ATAs) are mainly treated by pharmacologic therapy for rate control or rhythm control. The aim of our study was to compare sotalol (S) versus beta-blocking agents (BB) in terms of prevention of ATA, cardioversions (CVs), and cardiovascular hospitalizations (H) in patients paced for bradycardia-tachycardia form of sinus node disease (BT-SND)... CONCLUSIONS: In the complex context of "hybrid therapy" in patients with BT-SND implanted with a modern dual chamber rate adaptive pacemaker device delivering atrial antitachycardia pacing, no differences were found between the use of beta-blocker and the use of S, at the relatively low dose achieved after clinical titration, in terms of prevention of cardiovascular H or need for atrial CV.

Bifocal versus unifocal right atrial pacing under plasma level controlled sotalol to prevent atrial fibrillation in patients with symptomatic sinus bradycardia and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. [2007.12]
AIMS : Bifocal right atrial pacing (BP) has been reported to increase arrhythmia-free intervals in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) under antiarrhythmic drugs. This study compares AF burden with unifocal pacing (UP) vs BP under sotalol...

The clinical noncompliance of oral sotalol/magnesium for prophylactic treatment of atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting. [2007.07]
BACKGROUND: Postoperative atrial fibrillation has been refractory to many attempted pharmacologic prevention methods and, when effective, side effects have been described. The present aim was to study the clinical compliance of a suggested prophylactic treatment, oral sotalol, and magnesium... CONCLUSIONS: The tested treatment protocol showed limited compliance among routine cardiac-surgery patients, and further, introduced a biased selection of patients that skewed the results and may have partly explained the treatment effect.

Exercise capacity in atrial fibrillation: a substudy of the Sotalol-Amiodarone Atrial Fibrillation Efficacy Trial (SAFE-T). [2007.04]
BACKGROUND: Therapy for chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) focuses on rate versus rhythm control, but little is known about the effects of common therapeutic interventions on exercise tolerance in AF... CONCLUSION: Cardioversion resulted in a sustained improvement in exercise capacity over the course of 1 year, and this improvement was similar between those in SR and those with SR and recurrent AF. Patients most likely to improve with treatment tended to be younger and nonobese and have the greatest limitations initially.

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Clinical Trials Related to Betapace (Sotalol)

Antiarrhythmic Drugs Assessment in Preventing Atrial Fibrillation [Not yet recruiting]
The current evidences indicate that ~30% patients with sick sinus syndrome(SSS) would develop persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) after a long term pacing therapy. However, the accurate influence of antiarrhythmic drugs on the AF is still not well defined. The purpose of the study is to assess the therapeutic effects of various antiarrhythmic drugs (Amiodarone, Sotalol and Propafenone) on the long term management of AF in SSS patients with AF, including the reduced AF burden (duration and episodes) and persistent AF free survival rate. All patients will be followed up for 12 months.

Efficacy and Safety Evaluation of Azimilide or Sotalol vs Placebo for Treatment of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation. [Completed]
Atrial fibrillation (abnormal rhythm in the upper chamber of the heart) is a common supraventricular arrhythmia (a type of abnormal heart rhythm) for which antiarrhythmic therapy is often prescribed. The primary goals of therapy are to maintain sinus rhythm (normal heart rhythm) and to reduce the occurrence of episodes of atrial fibrillation. The double-blind, placebo-controlled phase of this study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral azimilide compared with placebo and with sotalol, an antiarrhythmic drug, in maintaining sinus rhythm in patients who require cardioversion (electric shock to correct heart rhythm) to correct atrial fibrillation. Once this phase of the study is completed, a second phase with a different study design will be conducted. The second phase is an open-label, follow-up phase to the first study. The follow-up phase will continue to evaluate the long-term safety of a daily oral dose of azimilide in patients who complete the double-blind, placebo-controlled phase of this study.

Comparing the Effects of Amiodarone, Sotalol, and Placebo in Maintaining Sinus Rhythm in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Converted to Sinus Rhythm [Completed]
Atrial fibrillation is the most frequently occurring cardiac arrhythmia, with 1. 0-1. 5 million cases annually. It is a risk factor for congestive heart failure, and stroke, 75,000 cases of the latter occurring annually in patients with atrial fibrillation. The safety of the most widely used antiarrhythmic agent for this group of patients, quinidine, has been called into question. This study seeks to determine whether two other agents, amiodarone and sotalol, are safe and effective treatments for patients with atrial fibrillation.

Trial Comparing Ablation With Medical Therapy in Patients With Ventricular Tachycardia [Withdrawn]
This study aims to compare antiarrhythmic drug therapy with catheter ablation using the SmartTOUCH catheter (Biosense Webster Inc.) as treatment for patients with ventricular tachycardia and coronary artery disease

Genetic Sources of Variability of the Adaptation of the Ventricular Repolarisation [Completed]
The main objective is to research for genetic factors involved in the extreme modifications of the QT interval of the electrocardiogram in answer to a pharmacological stimulation (sotalol) and physiological stimulation in the apparently normal general population. The phenotypic characterization, based on the ventricular repolarisation dynamics will be used aiming at term of the predictive genetic factors of the acquired long QT syndrome

more trials >>

Reports of Suspected Betapace (Sotalol) Side Effects

Atrial Fibrillation (9)Headache (3)Cardiac Pacemaker Insertion (3)Nasopharyngitis (2)Oedema Peripheral (2)Blood Pressure Increased (2)Hypotension (2)Heart Rate Decreased (2)Insomnia (2)Bradycardia (2)more >>


Page last updated: 2013-02-10

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