Use of amiodarone in the therapy of primary ventricular arrhythmias in children

4 children, ages 11-14 years, were diagnosed as having primary ventricular arrhythmias (3 ventricular tachycardia, 1 multifocal premature ventricular contractions) without underlying heart disease. All 4 patients were treated initially with standard antiarrhythmic drugs (quinidine, propranolol, procainamide) and either did not respond (3 patients) or experienced drug toxicity (quinidine - 1 patient) necessitating withdrawal of antiarrhythmic therapy. Amiodarone, a new antiarrhythmic agent, was initiated in a single oral daily dose of 10 mg/kg/day. All patients have shown a significant clinical response to oral amiodarone with either complete suppression of ventricular tachycardia in 2 patients, near complete suppression in 1 and abolition of multifocal premature ventricular contractions in the fourth patient. 2 patients have had corneal microdeposits detected by slitlamp examination and are receiving methylcellulose eye drops; no other adverse reactions have been encountered during the follow-up of 6 months to 3 years.