Amiodarone is a benzofuran derivative, anti-arrhythmic drug used commonly in a variety of settings.[A36817] Most known for its approved indication in life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, it is also used off-label in the outpatient and inpatient setting for atrial fibrillation. Because of its ability to cause serious toxicity and possibly death, amiodarone use should be reserved for its approved indications, according to prescribing information.[L3561,L11265,L11286]
The FDA approved indications for amiodarone are recurrent ventricular fibrillation (VF) and recurrent hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT). The FDA emphasizes that this drug should only be given in these conditions when they are clinically documented and have not responded to normal therapeutic doses of other antiarrhythmic agents, or when other drugs are not tolerated by the patient.[L3561] Off-label indications include atrial fibrillation and supraventricular tachycardia.[A189666,A189720,A189723,L11286]
Categories
Agents causing hyperkalemia
Agents Causing Muscle Toxicity
alpha-Galactosidase, antagonists & inhibitors
Antiarrhythmic agents
Antiarrhythmics, Class III
Benzofurans
Bradycardia-Causing Agents
BSEP/ABCB11 Inhibitors
BSEP/ABCB11 Substrates
BSEP/ABCB11 Substrates with a Narrow Therapeutic Index
Drug Info/Drug Targets: DrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugs. Knox C, Law V, Jewison
T, Liu P, Ly S, Frolkis A, Pon A, Banco K, Mak C, Neveu V, Djoumbou Y, Eisner R, Guo AC, Wishart DS.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan; 39 (Database issue):D1035-41. | PMID:21059682
