Dofetilide, a new class III antiarrhythmic agent, is moderately effective in cardioverting AF or AFl to SR and significantly effective in maintaining SR for 1 year. In-hospital initiation and dosage adjustment based on QTc and Cl(Cr) are necessary to minimize a small but nonnegligible proarrhythmic risk.

No abstract

A significantly greater number (p < 0.05) of patients with confirmed atherosclerosis treated with atorvastatin reached the target LDL cholesterol concentration at the starting dose than patients treated with fluvastatin or lovastatin, and significantly fewer (p < 0.05) patients treated with atorvastatin required combination therapy with colestipol to achieve target LDL cholesterol concentrations than all other statins tested.

Losartan was generally well tolerated and comparable to enalapril in terms of exercise tolerance in this short-term (12-week) study of patients with heart failure. The clinical effects of long-term angiotensin II receptor blockade compared with ACE inhibition remain to be studied.

This multicenter, double-blind study evaluated efficacy and safety of the vasopeptidase inhibitor omapatrilat, which simultaneously inhibits neutral endopeptidase and angiotensin converting enzyme, when given in conjunction with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) to subjects nonresponsive to HCTZ alone. The study enrolled 657 subjects with mild to severe hypertension. After a 2-week placebo lead-in period and a 4-week HCTZ phase, 274 subjects were randomized to receive omapatrilat (10 or 20 mg, electively titrated to 20 or 40 mg, respectively, at week 4 if seated diastolic blood pressure [SeDBP] was > or =90 mm Hg) or matching placebo in addition to 25 mg of HCTZ as continuing therapy. The primary outcome measure was change in SeDBP from baseline to week 8. At week 8, placebo plus HCTZ-adjusted additional reductions in SeDBP in the omapatrilat 10/20 mg and 20/40 mg treatment groups (4 and 5 mm Hg, respectively) were significant (P < .001), as were changes in seated systolic blood pressure in both omapatrilat-treated groups (7 and 10 mm Hg, respectively; P < .001). Seated diastolic blood pressure was normalized (<90 mm Hg) in 38% of subjects in the placebo group compared to 59% and 64% of subjects in the omapatrilat groups (P < or = .008). Adverse events, serious adverse events, and discontinuations attributed to adverse events were infrequent. There were no clinically relevant changes in serum creatinine or potassium. Omapatrilat was effective and well tolerated when added to HCTZ in subjects whose blood pressure was not controlled with HCTZ alone.