Current approaches to drug treatment of ventricular extrasystole: results of the ETHAPRO study in the context of the use of ethacizine

August 12, 2026
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УДК:  616.12-008.318
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 Treatment of extrasystolic arrhythmia, in particular ventricular extrasystole (VE) in up-to-date arrhythmology is a problem that can be solved in several ways. Intervention and therapy are required mainly for symptomatic situations, malignant VE or conditions when the burden of VE according to 24-hour Holter monitoring of the electrocardiogram reaches a level that can lead to the development of cardiomyopathy associated with this rhythm disturbance. When establishing indications for the treatment of VE, drug therapy with antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) is usually initiated, and in case of resistance to such therapy or a high burden of VE, catheter ablation is resorted to in order to prevent the development of cardiomyopathy. In the medical treatment of VE, class IС AADs occupy an important position, but their use is limited to conditions without severe heart pathology, accompanied by pronounced structural changes, that is, they are used in predominantly benign VE. The purpose of the article: to review the current state of the attitude to the treatment of VE, in particular the use of class IС AADs at the European level, as well as to analyze the recently published results of the ETHAPRO study on the efficacy and safety of the AAD ethacizine for VE and atrial extrasystole, which has been used for a long time in Ukraine, Latvia, and a number of other countries.

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