Ventricular Arrhythmias
- PO (Adults): 800–1600 mg/day in 1–2 doses for 1–3 wk, then 600–800 mg/day in 1–2 doses for 1 mo, then 400 mg/day maintenance dose.
- PO (Children): 10 mg/kg/day (800 mg/1.72 m2/day) for 10 days or until response or adverse reaction occurs, then 5 mg/kg/day (400 mg/1.72 m2/day) for several wk, then ↓ to 2.5 mg/kg/day (200 mg/1.72 m2/day) or lowest effective maintenance dose.
- IV (Adults): 150 mg over 10 min, followed by 360 mg over the next 6 hr and then 540 mg over the next 18 hr. Continue infusion at 0.5 mg/min until oral therapy is initiated. If arrhythmia recurs, a small loading infusion of 150 mg over 10 min should be given; in addition, the rate of the maintenance infusion may be ↑. Conversion to initial oral therapy: If duration of IV infusion was <1 wk, oral dose should be 800–1600 mg/day; if IV infusion was 1–3 wk, oral dose should be 600–800 mg/day; if IV infusion was >3 wk, oral dose should be 400 mg/day. ACLS guidelines for pulseless VF/VT: 300 mg IV push, may repeat once after 3–5 min with 150 mg IV push (maximum cumulative dose 2.2 g/24 hr; unlabeled).
- IV, Intraosseous (Children and infants): PALS guidelines for pulseless VF/VT: 5 mg/kg as a bolus; Perfusion tachycardia: 5 mg/kg loading dose over 20–60 min (maximum of 15 mg/kg/day; unlabeled).
- PO (Adults): 600–800 mg/day for 1 wk or until desired response occurs or side effects develop, then ↓ to 400 mg/day for 3 wk, then maintenance dose of 200–400 mg/day.
- PO (Children): 10 mg/kg/day (800 mg/1.72 m2/day) for 10 days or until response or side effects occur, then 5 mg/kg/day (400 mg/1.72 m2/day) for several wk, then ↓ to 2.5 mg/kg/day (200 mg/1.72 m2/day) or lowest effective maintenance dose.
