1. Usefulness of midodrine in patients with severely symptomatic neurocardiogenic syncope: a randomized control study.
- Author
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Perez-Lugones A, Schweikert R, Pavia S, Sra J, Akhtar M, Jaeger F, Tomassoni GF, Saliba W, Leonelli FM, Bash D, Beheiry S, Shewchik J, Tchou PJ, and Natale A
- Subjects
- Adult, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Kentucky, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life psychology, Recurrence, Severity of Illness Index, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Outcome, Wisconsin, Adrenergic alpha-Agonists therapeutic use, Midodrine therapeutic use, Syncope, Vasovagal drug therapy
- Abstract
Introduction: The efficacy of midodrine for the management of patients with neurocardiogenic syncope was assessed prospectively in a randomized control study., Methods and Results: Patients who had at least monthly occurrences of syncope and a positive tilt-table test were included in the study. A total of 61 patients were randomly allocated to treatment either with midodrine or with fluid, salt tablets, and counseling. Midodrine was given at a starting dose of 5 mg three times a day and increased up to a dose of 15 mg three times a day when required. Midodrine was given during the daytime every 6 hours. Thirty-one patients were assigned to treatment with midodrine; the other 30 patients were advised to increase their fluid intake and were instructed to recognize their prodromes and abort the progression to syncope. Patients were followed-up for at least 6 months. A quality-of-life questionnaire was administered at the time of randomization and 6 months after. At the 6-month follow-up, 25 (81%) of 31 midodrine-treated patients and 4 (13%) of the 30 fluid-therapy patients had remained asymptomatic (P < 0.001). One patient had to discontinue taking midodrine due to severe side effects and another six patients experienced minor side effects that did not require drug discontinuation., Conclusion: Midodrine appeared to provide a significant benefit in patients with neurocardiogenic syncope. To prevent recurrence of symptoms, dose adjustments were required in about one third of patients.
- Published
- 2001
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