Diphenylhydantoin Sodium in Cardiac Arrhythmias

Abstract

THE time-honored drug armamentarium for cardiac arrhythmias of digitalis, quinidine and procainamide has proved successful in most clinical circumstances. Toxicity to each of these agents, however, remains of major concern to the clinician. The search for effective but less toxic antiarrhythmic drugs has involved a number of different compounds, including the antimalarials, antihistaminics, antispasmodics and various agents that alter the responses of the autonomic nervous system.¹ In some of the early clinical studies on diphenylhydantoin (Dilantin) in the treatment of epilepsy, certain effects were observed on the heart. As early as 1942 Finkelman and Arieff² noted that administration of the . . .