Current Classification of Antiarrhythmic Drugs as a Guide to Their Rational Clinical Use

Conclusion

The Harrison modification of the Vaughn Williams classification scheme for Class I antiarrhythmic drugs has been widely accepted. It has important clinical and electrophysiological bases, and recent membrane classification based on tightness of drug coupling to sodium channels in cardiac muscle and His-Purkinje tissue further supports the modification. This scheme enables the clinician to predict appropriate agents for patients with particular arrhythmia syndromes and to effectively combine drugs to treat life-threatening arrhythmias. As new drugs are tested and classified, it should continue to prove useful to electrophysiologists and arrhythmia specialists in the future.