Quinidine Elimination in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure or Poor Renal Function

Abstract

Plasma quinidine half-life values, determined by a relatively specific double extraction method in eight patients with poor renal function, eight with congestive heart failure, and nine controls were similar for all groups. When quinidine was measured by a nonspecific fluorescent method, the half-life values calculated for the uremic patients were longer than those for the controls. The nonspecific method does not differentiate slow biotransformation of quinidine from normal biotransformation but slow excretion of metabolites.