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Hyponatremia is common in cirrhosis. It mostly occurs in an advanced stage of the disease and is associated with complications and increased mortality. Either hypovolemic or, more commonly, hypervolemic hyponatremia can be seen in cirrhosis. Impaired renal sodium handling due to renal hypoperfusion and increased arginine-vasopressin secretion secondary to reduced effective volemia due to peripheral arterial vasodilation represent the main mechanisms leading to dilutional hyponatremia in this setting. Patients with cirrhosis usually develop slowly progressing hyponatremia. In different clinical contexts, it is associated with neurological manifestations due to increased brain water content, where the intensity is often magnified by concomitant hyperammonemia leading to hepatic encephalopathy. Severe hyponatremia requiring hypertonic saline infusion is rare in cirrhosis. The management of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic hyponatremia mainly rely on the identification and treatment of precipitating factors. However, sustained resolution of hyponatremia is often difficult to achieve. V2 receptor blockade by Vaptans is certainly effective, but their long-term safety, especially when associated to diuretics given to control ascites, has not been established as yet. As in other conditions, a rapid correction of long-standing hyponatremia can lead to irreversible brain damage. The liver transplant setting represents a condition at high risk for the occurrence of such complications.

Flecainide is an IC antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) that received in 1984 Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) and subsequently for rhythm control of atrial fibrillation (AF). Currently, flecainide is mainly employed for sinus rhythm maintenance in AF and the treatment of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (IVA) in absence of ischaemic and structural heart disease on the basis of CAST data. Recent studies enrolling patients with different structural heart diseases demonstrated good effectiveness and safety profile of flecainide. The purpose of this review is to assess current evidence for appropriate and safe use of flecainide, 30 years after CAST data, in the light of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools in the field of ischaemic and non-ischaemic heart disease.

Transcatheter ablation was increasingly and successfully used to treat symptomatic drug refractory patients affected by supraventricular arrhythmias. Antiarrhythmic drug treatment still plays a major role in patient management, alone or combined with non-pharmacological therapies. Flecainide is an IC antiarrhythmic drug approved in 1984 from the Food and Drug Administration for the suppression of sustained ventricular tachycardia and later for acute cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and for sinus rhythm maintenance. Currently, flecainide is mostly used for sinus rhythm maintenance in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients without structural cardiomyopathy although recent studies enrolling different patient populations have demonstrated a good effectiveness and safety profile. How should we interpret the results of the CAST after the latest evidence? Is it possible to expand the indications of flecainide, and therefore, its use? This review aims to highlight the main characteristics of flecainide, as well as its optimal clinical use, delineating drug indications and contraindications and appropriate monitoring, based on the most recent evidence.