After CAMIAT and EMIAT What is the Role for Amiodarone in the Prevention of Sudden Death

Abstract

Despite the tremendous strides in its diagnosis and management over the recent years, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the industrialised world. In the UK, about 459 people die of a heart attack everyday-over 170 000 people every year [1]. The majority of deaths following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) occur in the first year, with a mortality rate ranging from between 5% to 15% [2, 3]. The major cause of death in the first year after acute myocardial infarction is sudden death, usually due to ventricular arrhythmias [4, 5]. While the definition of sudden death is still under much debate [6] it is recognised that the majority of these events, although not exclusively, begin as ventricular tachycardia which quickly degenerates into ventricular fibrillation, in the absence of either acute infarction or significant ischaemia [7, 8].