Effect of flunarizine on defibrillation outcomes and early refibrillation in a canine model of prolonged ventricular fibrillation

NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Can successful electrical shock in combination with a delayed after‐depolarization (DAD) blocker suppress early refibrillation episodes following long duration ventricular fibrillation (LDVF)? What is the main finding and its importance? Flunarizine significantly reduced the activation of LDVF and early ventricular fibrillation (VF) recurrence following LDVF, suggesting that DADs potentially contribute to refibrillation in prolonged VF. Thus, DAD inhibition can be used as an adjunctive therapy for electrical defibrillation to treat prolonged VF and suppress refibrillation following LDVF. ABSTRACT: This study attempts to detect changes in the defibrillation threshold (DFT) at different stages of ventricular fibrillation (VF) (short duration VF, SDVF; long duration VF, LDVF) and during early refibrillation following successful defibrillation of LDVF by giving flunarizine, a blocker of delayed after‐depolarizations (DADs). Twelve beagles were divided into two groups (the control group, n = 6; and the flunarizine group, n = 6). Two 64‐electrode basket catheters were deployed into the left and the right ventricles for global endocardium mapping. The DFTs of SDVF and LDVF were determined at 20 s and 7 min, respectively, after VF induction in each group. Any refibrillation episodes were recorded within 15 min after the first successful defibrillation of LDVF. In the flunarizine group, the SDVF‐DFT values before and after the drug were not significantly different. The 7 min LDVF‐DFTs were markedly reduced by 26% (P < 0.05, the control group) and 38% (P < 0.01, the flunarizine group) compared to the 20 s SDVF‐DFTs within each group. The difference between SDVF‐DFT and LDVF‐DFT after flunarizine was larger than that in the control group (213 ± 65 vs. 120 ± 84 V, P < 0.05). The number of refibrillation episodes per animal (1.3 ± 1.0) following successful defibrillation of LDVF after flunarizine was 48% of that in controls (2.7 ± 2.0, P < 0.05). The effect of flunarizine on SDVF‐DFT and LDVF‐DFT indicates that the role of DADs in the defibrillation mechanism may differ as VF continues. Flunarizine significantly reduced early VF recurrence following LDVF, suggesting that DADs potentially contribute to refibrillation in a canine model of prolonged VF.